The involvement of women in top
management is a function of both culture and observed benefits of maintaining
gender diversity within the organisational structures. Progressive studies have
been conducted across the world and they indicate that major strides have been
made in Western countries in embracing gender equality as opposed to the level
of progress made in Asian countries (Lord and Preston, 2009). Besides the argument
for gender diversity based on the principles of eliminating gender
discrimination, there has been many studies that have linked gender diversity
in management to improved performance by organisations (Javalgi et al, 2011; Sincoff,
Coleman, Owen, 2009). Studies in China indicate a growing level of
participation of women in management and an improvement in overall
organisational performance. This study argues that gender diversity is good for
Chinese organisations in terms of tapping the potential of different genders in
management.
The contribution of women in
organisations is influenced by four schools of thought that explain gender
differences in management and approach to communication: sex school, gender
role school, causal factor school, and attitudinal factor schools (Melero,
2004; Lord and Preston, 2009). In the sex school of thought, males and females
have innate differences which influence their approach to communication and
operations. Women are observably less abrasive than men and often tend to opt
for consensus rather for encouraging competing ideas (Melero, 2004). This is an
important property in today’s world where synergy among employees is the key to
success (Lopez-Zafra, Garcia-Retamero and Martos, 2012). It demonstrates the
rationale for the growing preference for gender diversity in management.
The gender role envisions the society as
a unit where members of either gender play distinct roles. The men are the
traditional breadwinners while the women are expected to be the home keepers
and raise children (Lord and Preston, 2009). In terms of hierarchy, the gender
role school of thought places the women below the men and this is believed to
be an impediment to the rise of women in corporate organisations. These
perceptions have been fought fiercely by proponents of gender equality,
especially in the West. In China where the traditional view is considered to be
a little stronger than in the West, one-child policy has seen many heiresses
being groomed to take over family businesses as succession issues compel the
society to acknowledge the potential of women to successfully run organisations
(Chen, Chan and Leung, 2010). This has led to a significant increase in the
acknowledgement of women to top management positions and this has in turn created
the perception that gender diversity in top management is good for the
organisation.
In order to discern the influence of
women in management, various studies have been conducted to establish whether
gender diversity influences organisational performance. Zhang and Hou (2012)
conducted a study on Chinese nationals to establish the extent to which gender
impacted group performance. In this study, a comparison was made between
Chinese and American nationals and the finding was that the presence of women
in Chinese groups tended to minimise conflicts related to tasks and relations
between group members (Zhang and Hou, 2012). This finding was consistent with
the sex school of thought which ranks women as being generally more
collaborative and focused on conflict avoidance than their male counterparts. In
the same study, women were found to be more considerate of their colleagues
than the men who appeared focused more on what they could achieve and the
possible benefits that they could obtain for achievements made. These are qualities that organisations can
benefit from in terms of creating a healthy organisational culture that
promotes cooperation between employees.
Stereotypes against women are inevitable
and they are a function of traditional cultures and views towards members of
either gender. As has been illustrated in the gender role school outlined
above, the women tend to be perceived as traditional home keepers with no
important role to play in the substantive national economy. Even though this view
is universal globally, the strength of the perception differs between
countries. In a study on USA, Chile and China, Javalgi et al (2011) established
that China had the lowest perception of women as potential managers in
organisations. It is a reflection that gender roles are still taken seriously
in China and that the country lags behind the rest of the world in terms of
entrenching gender equality in management teams. The country is strongly
dominated by males in most boards of directors and it is predicted that the
situation is unlikely to change very soon (Xiu and Gunderson, 2013). This
places the organisations at a disadvantage if research linking diversity to
performance is to be relied upon.
The
positive perception of women is backed by empirical research on Chinese
companies where 98% of businesses run by women make profits (Javalgi et al,
2011). In terms of entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs record 90% success
rates as compared to 50% recorded by their male counterparts (Javalgi et al, 2011).
These findings prove the strength of women in fostering business success and
justify the push to enable them play a more active role in organisations. In
spite of these trends, findings are that China continues to lag behind their
USA counterparts in acknowledging women managers and facilitating their rise to
top management (Sincoff, Coleman, Owen, 2009). There is a persistent disparity
between lower level management and top management with trends being that the
number of women reduces drastically in top management. Nevertheless, a number
of advantages have been observed in having women managers as elaborated below.
The presence of women in the board of
directors is said to have a positive relationship with communication
effectiveness and reduction of conflicts between the board members and between
the board and management teams. This is believed to be related to the common
approach by women to communication where effective interpersonal communication
is emphasised and where substantial efforts are made to minimise conflicts. The
women are also believed to be more oriented towards empowerment of employees
and emphatic towards them. They are therefore said to be more effective in
discouraging employee turnover and in creating a more cohesive organisational
structure. In many of the cases, recognition of these characteristics of women
managers has seen organisations opt to let the women control the human
resources dockets within the organisations. This is nevertheless faced with
challenges where the dominance of women in human resources functions tends to
have a demeaning impact on the dockets. Chen, Chan and Leung (2011) observe
that even though women tend to be less gifted in technical areas, they tend to
be very effective in encouraging teamwork and bringing out the best in
employees. This property serves the organisation better than being in
possession of all the technical skills needed in a field.
According to Francoeur, Labelle and
Sinclair-Desgagne´ (2008), there is a direct relationship between gender
diversity in management and the ability of the organisation to survive in
complex business environments. The positive connection is also present in terms
of the performance of organisations in corporate social responsibility and this
is related to the fact that women tend to be more humane and concerned with the
welfare of societies (Boulouta, 2013).Despite these relationships, the
stereotypes against women persist in many parts of the world and they often
take the form of pay discrimination where women are paid lower wages than their
male counterparts of the same rank.
Xiu (2013) found than there was a
significant gap between male and female managers in Chinese organisations. In
spite of the acknowledgement of their potential, females are said to be less
likely to secure senior jobs with large organisations and even where they do,
they are paid lower wages than their male counterparts. This view is also
echoed by Xiu and Gunderson (2013) who observe that even though compensation
for women managers has been rising steadily in recent years, pay gaps are still
experienced across China. This challenge is not unique to China. Even countries
that are known to be more liberalised in terms of entrenching gender equality
like the UK still face general inequality in wages. Nevertheless, the
differences in China are more significant and often accompanied by higher
levels of condescending attitudes towards women managers.
From the arguments above, it is easy to
establish that there is an increase in the extent to which women managers are
recognised as good performers in organisations. Even though negative
perceptions on women managers persist, the trend towards gender diversity in
management in China has been accelerating in the recent past. This trend has
been backed by findings establishing a positive relationship between management
cohesion, organisational performance, resilience in complex markets, and the
presence of gender diversity in organisations. In spite of these gender
diversity gains, women in China are still less involved in top management than
their counterparts in many of the Western countries. They also face higher
levels of pay discrimination than those in other countries. This justifies the
push for greater gender diversity in Chinese organisations.
References
Boulouta, I., 2013. Hidden Connections: The Link
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Cheng, L.T.W., Chan, R.Y.K., Leung, T.Y., 2010.
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Francoeur, C., Labelle, R., Sinclair-Desgagne´, B.,
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Javalgi, R.G., et al, 2011. A comparative analysis
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