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

• Date: 01 May 2017
• Published date: 01 May 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21776

Human Resource Management, May–June 2017, Vol. 56, No. 3. Pp. 407–430

© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21776

Correspondence to: Ahu Tatli, School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End

Road, London, E1 4NS, UK, Phone: +44 (0) 20 7882 2698, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7882 3615, E-mail: a.tatli@qmul.ac.uk.

INDIVIDUALIZATION

AND MARKETIZATION OF

RESPONSIBILITY FOR GENDER

EQUALITY: THE CASE OF FEMALE

MANAGERS IN CHINA

AHU TATLI, MUSTAFA BILGEHAN OZTURK,

AND HONG SENG WOO

This article investigates the question of where the responsibility for promoting gen-

der 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 fi ndings demonstrate the marketization and indi vidualization 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. Gen-

der 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 fi ndings 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.

Keywords: China, gender equality, diversity, legitimacy, inclusion, Confucian-

ism, female managers, inequality regimes

Despite progress over the past decades

in terms of female representation in

management, top management in orga-

nizations continues to be dominated

by men (Acker, 2006; Bilimoria, Joy,

& Liang, 2008; Cook & Glass, 2014; Padavic &

Reskin, 2002; Singh & Vinnicombe, 2004). There

is a well-developed literature on the lack of equi-

table female representation in management in

Western organizational contexts. Extant research

408 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, MAY–JUNE 2017

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

We recognize the

multilevel and

contextual nature

of gender equality

as explored in

previous works, but

we also emphasize

the dynamic and

emergent nature

of this contextual

embeddedness....

Our research

endogenizes the

sociocultural context

as an integral aspect

of HRM, including

the management of

gender equality.

This article presents original empirical data

on women’s managerial experiences in China.

Despite China being the second-largest economy

in the world, research on female managers in

China is limited (with notable exceptions such

as Cooke, 2005; Cooke & Xiao, 2014). Our find-

ings make a significant theoretical contribution

to the HRM literature by framing macrosocietal

context as a dynamic and endogenous aspect

of management of human resources in organi-

zations. The importance of context in shaping

HRM is well recognized (Beer, Lawrence, Mills,

& Walton, 1985; Brewster, 1995; Fombrun, 1982;

Tichy, Fombrun, & Devanna, 1982), yet the ten-

dency is often to treat the context as background.

Our findings show that the sociocultural con-

text of gender equality is dynamic, and it feeds

the legitimacy structures that inform the HRM

practices (or the lack thereof) promoting gen-

der equality in management. In exploring three

key components of Acker’s (2006) sociological

framework in relation to experiences of Chinese

female managers, we provide novel insights into

the interplay between HRM and societal con-

text. In addition, the evidence based theoretical

expansion that is offered in this article has sig-

nificant implications for human resource (HR)

practitioners. Refocusing on the societal context

as a constitutive element of gender equality in

organizations enables us to approach the issue

of female representation at the managerial level

from an intrinsically embedded angle. This fresh

approach allows us to revisit taken-for-granted

HRM assumptions and solutions, extending the

current thinking in designing HR policies and

practices in the area of women in management.

The article is structured as follows: first, a con-

textually informed overview of female employ-

ment in Chinese organizations is provided. The

next section presents the theory that informs

the study, followed by the description of research

methods. The findings of the research are pre-

sented and analyzed in three subsections focus-

ing on (1) the state and organization, (2) market

forces, and (3) individual female managers. The

discussion that follows elucidates the research

findings using Acker’s (2006) concept of inequal-

ity regimes and explains how the responsibility

for gender equality in management is understood

and where it is located. Next, implications for HR

practitioners are highlighted, and directions for

future research are identified. The final section

concludes the article.

Female Employment in the Chinese Context

Women’s position is subordinate to that of men

in a range of life aspects in the Chinese society,

showed how a variety of organizational, group,

and individual level factors may act as opportuni-

ties and constraints in promoting gender equality

at work (e.g., Ely, Ibarra, & Kolb, 2011; Morrison,

White, & Van Velsor, 1992; Ragins & Kram, 2007;

Vinkenburg, van Engen, Eagly, & Johnnesen-

Schmidt, 2011). Such influences are also often

situated in the wider cultural context. In this arti-

cle, we recognize the multilevel and contextual

nature of gender equality as explored in previous

works, but we also emphasize the dynamic and

emergent nature of this contextual embedded-

ness. Instead of taking the macro-

societal context and cultural setting

as a given, this article explores the

changes in the legitimacy structures

that promote or stifle gender equal-

ity efforts in organizations. In this

way, our research endogenizes the

sociocultural context as an integral

aspect of human resource manage-

ment (HRM), including the man-

agement of gender equality.

Our article aims to explore where

the responsibility for promoting

gender equality resides in Chinese

employment contexts with a specific

attention to managerial level repre-

sentation of women. As Cooke (2013)

pointed out, there are multiple influ-

ences on conditions of gender equal-

ity at work in China including state

policies and organizational practices.

Situated within the fast-changing

political economy context of China,

our findings demonstrate that orga-

nizational concern for addressing

gender inequality is contextual,

dynamic, and contingent. Utilizing

Acker’s (2006) inequality regimes

framework and informed by 30 quali-

tative interviews, this article unpacks

how gender inequality at the mana-

gerial level is perceived by female

managers and consequently where

the responsibility for achieving gender equality is

seen to be located. In discussing the findings of our

study, we build on Acker’s (2006) notion of inequal-

ity regimes to explain and explore persistent gen-

der inequalities in managerial echelons of Chinese

organizations. The findings of the present study

evidence the importance of three components in

Acker’s (2006) framework (i.e., visibility, legitimacy,

and control and compliance) in sustaining gender

inequality as the status quo.

Our research makes a number of contribu-

tions to scholarly and practitioner knowledge.