Individualization and Marketization of Responsibility for Gender Equality: The Case of Female Managers in China

Abstract

This article investigates the question of where the responsibility for promoting gender equality resides in the Chinese employment context. Utilizing Acker's (2006) inequality regimes framework, the study explores women's underrepresentation in management roles in China and explains the persistence of gender inequalities in managerial echelons of Chinese organizations. Based on 30 interviews with female managers, the findings demonstrate the marketization and individualization of gender equality in organizational activity. The existing gender inequality, and the lack of responsibility for tackling it, has been either legitimized by eluding to the commercial‐only focus of organizations or rendered invisible through a belief in individual choice as the determining factor of career progression for women. Gender inequality in management is also maintained through the compliance of female managers themselves with the presumed legitimacy of gender‐based differential access to managerial roles. References to culture and tradition, market forces, competitive pressures, and individual choices by female managers are often made in explaining the unequal career paths and outcomes for men and women in their organizations. Our findings contribute to the human resource management (HRM) literature by framing macrosocietal context as a dynamic and endogenous aspect of management of human resources in organizations and provide novel insights into the interplay between HRM and societal context. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In the steps of Joan Acker: A journey in researching inequality regimes and intersectional inequalities

“…Similarly, Tatli, Özturk, and Woo (2017) concur that certain components of inequality regimes might be given analytical prominence depending on the nature of the research question posed, which in their research was "where is the responsibility for achieving gender equality circumstances, public sector policies and practices support affirmative action and pay equality (Acker, 2006a, p.107). Yet, despite a favourable public policy approach supporting gender equality, vertical and horizontal segregation remains resilient in Norway and the Scandinavian countries.…”

Birth without raising: Impact of labor migration on the medical benefits for migrant children in China

“…Moreover, migrant population usually live in poor environments, and thus the migrant families attach less importance to the medical welfare of their children. On the other hand, since the urban migrant population mostly consists of low‐skilled workers, they enjoy relatively low degrees of social security, especially women (Frank & Wildsmith, 2005; Tatli, Ozturk, & Hong, 2016). Therefore, the families can only get more income by increasing their working time.…”

Autonomy as a key resource for women in low gender egalitarian countries: A cross‐cultural examination

“…Management practices and behavior vary across countries and, in general, leaders in lower gender egalitarian countries have stereotypes about what skills women have or how women should be treated at work (Kossek et al, 2009). In fact, Tatli et al (2016) (Kuvaas, Buch, & Dysvik, 2014). Leaders should also be trained on what the new work designs entail, how to successfully implement these new initiatives to create an environment of inclusion (Binyamin & Carmeli, 2010), and how to identify potential female leaders for the organization (Tatli et al, 2016).…”