An exploratory study of women’s work values in the Chinese context: a grounded-theory approach

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate women managers’ work values in the Chinese sociocultural context and to explain how these work values affect their career success. This paper also explores how social and cultural factors affect Chinese women’s work value formation process. Design/methodology/approach Using a grounded theory approach, the authors collected and analyzed data through in-depth interviews with 12 women managers in the banking industry in northeast China. Findings The analysis identified eight dimensions of Chinese women’s work values and how they affect women’s career success in the Chinese context. The authors also found that although both social and cultural factors affect women’s work values, the effect of traditional Chinese culture is still profound. Originality/value The study extends the literature on Chinese women’s work values and provides a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture’s effect on contemporary Chinese women, particularly in developing cities.

Exploring work-life balance among professional women in mainland China: A qualitative study

“…The data were broken down into a large number of codes, we undertook naming and conceptualization as part of the open coding process (Zhang et al, 2021 ). There were 23 topics connected to barriers to attaining work-life balance and resources to maintain work-life balance were discovered.…”

“…However, a closer look at the experiences of women in China suggests that gender equality has not been realized (Zhang et al, 2020 ). Although gender role expectations in China are changing, gender role traditions endure (Zhang et al, 2021 ). The previous studies outline the significant role of traditional Chinese culture in shaping women's work values with some positive effects on the career advancement of women that may coexist with negative effects (Zhang et al, 2021 ).…”

“…After the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded in 1949, Chairman Mao and the central government launched a campaign to encourage women to pursue higher education and take on more significant positions at work (Li, 2021 ; Zhu et al, 2022 ). A Chinese saying states that “women hold up half the sky” which is related to recent history in China (Li, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ). With the increasing education levels of women in China, the number and proportion of professional women are growing (Zhang et al, 2021 ).…”

“…A Chinese saying states that “women hold up half the sky” which is related to recent history in China (Li, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ). With the increasing education levels of women in China, the number and proportion of professional women are growing (Zhang et al, 2021 ). Chinese women are employed in an increasing number of different fields and occupations (Zhu et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Third, for more than 5,000 years, the philosophy of Confucianism has played a dominant role in expected Chinese behavior and standards (Le et al, 2020 ). Chinese women are still expected to handle major domestic work for families, even though they work full-time (Chen et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ). Therefore, professional women have a dual burden of both work and family.…”