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A few good women at the top: The China case

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  • Liu, Shimin

Abstract

In the face of global economic downturns, an increasing number of women are rising to top management positions. What happened in China seems to resonate with the trend in the West. In China, only one in four have made it to the top management level, with a majority taking the position of chief operating officer, chief financial officer, and human resources director. In China, 53% of women are caught in sticky-floor situations and never advance beyond lower-level positions in the workplace. What holds women back from climbing up the corporate ladder? This research explores the stories of women executives in China's corporate world based on an exploratory study. We investigated the following questions: What are these women's beliefs about and responses to the glass ceiling? What personal, social, and organizational constraints undermine their capacity to play a part in a traditionally male-dominant world? How did these women make their way to the top? And, what factors are unique to Chinese women managers’ career advancement?

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Shimin, 2013. "A few good women at the top: The China case," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 483-490.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:56:y:2013:i:4:p:483-490
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2013.04.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Krishnan, Hema A. & Park, Daewoo, 2005. "A few good women--on top management teams," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(12), pages 1712-1720, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yunxia Zhu & Alison M. Konrad & Hao Jiao, 2016. "Violation and activation of gender expectations: Do Chinese managerial women face a narrow band of acceptable career guanxi strategies?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 53-86, March.
    2. Shao, KaiChao & Ma, Ruixue & Kamber, Joseph, 2023. "An in-depth analysis of the entrepreneurship of rural Chinese mothers and the digital inclusive finance," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7).
    3. Yang, Inju & Li, Lily Ming, 2018. "‘It is not fair that you do not know we have problems’: Perceptual distance and the consequences of male leaders' conflict avoidance behaviours," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 105-116.
    4. Fang Lee Cooke, 2023. "Changing Lens: Broadening the Research Agenda of Women in Management in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(2), pages 375-389, May.
    5. Ghulam Nabi & Song Wei & Ghulam Ghous, 2016. "Do we have proportionate gender in policy making? a study based on key government institutions of saarc region," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 14(1), pages 39-51.
    6. Zhiyang Liu & Guixing Wu, 2022. "Gendered motives towards hybrid entrepreneurial intentions: Empirical evidence from China," International Studies of Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 36-64, June.
    7. Yu Wang & Jie Ma & Tienan Wang, 2023. "Do all female directors have the same impact on corporate social responsibility? The role of their political connection," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 1047-1074, September.

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