Women celebrate International Women's Day in China. (Photo : Getty Images)
China is now breaking the male-dominated mold of its society. In the past years, the country has made significant achievements in terms of advancing gender equality.
Based on a report released by professional networking site LinkedIn, 44 percent of senior management positions in China are held by women.
The same report revealed that 35 percent of chief executive positions are filled by women. The workplace in China has shown a major transformation and it is a growing norm that women hold leadership positions.
This increase is significant. Grant Thornton International conducted a survey in 2012 and there was only 25 percent of top corporate positions that were held by women.
LinkedIn revealed that in fields such as education and non-profit organizations, 47 percent of top positions are filled by women leaders. Even in a male-dominated sector like science and technology, 18 percent of the top bosses are women.
According to Zhang Hongxia, program operations director from the international charity Save the Children, "Women and children used to be regarded as those who needed help during emergency response, but now, more and more women are engaged in domestic and international emergency response."
Zhu Xueping, the vice chairwoman of Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, said that women have a hard time advancing in their careers because they are tied to domestic obligations and are forced to put their work aside.
She noted, "But actually, women have unique advantages if hired into leadership positions. They're more patient, compassionate and sensitive when working with different people and have a stronger ability to build a sense of teamwork."
The great Chinese leader Mao Zedong wrote that in a socialist society, women should be treated equal to men and be considered an important part of the workplace.
He said, "In order to build a great socialist society, it is of the utmost importance to arouse the broad masses of women to join in productive activity. Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work in production."
