The persistence of gender discrimination in China — evidence fromrecruitment advertisements

摘要

In this paper we present an analysis of recruitment advertisements that suggests thatChinese employers frequently discriminate on gender grounds, both directly andindirectly. We illustrate how employers continue to use entrenched stereotypes andperpetuate highly segregated expectations of men and women's roles at work,predominantly to the detriment of women and hindering their progress in the labourmarket. The paper concludes that while employers' recruitment practices are not theonly cause of women's continued labour-market disadvantage — and are in themselvesa function of the wider of economic, socio-cultural and ideological factors that underlieit (Kitching 2001; Patrickson 2001; Leung 2003; Cooke 2005) — a change to employerbehaviour in this area is a necessary and potentially achievable step forward towardsgreater equality.