N o v e m b e r 20 1 1 • V o l 26 • N o 10
In This Issue
PAGE
Examining the Ceiling
4
Gender inequality
By Sam Powney
Up
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6
Health Insurance
until the mid-20th century, women
the non-profit think tank Civic Exchange,
directorships of companies listed on the
in Jianyong county, in the south of China’s
moderating the discussion. Panellists
Hang Seng Index were held by women.
central Hunan Province, could communicate
included Sophia Kao, the Chairperson of the
Broken down, this figure represents women
i n a s e c r e t l a n g u a g e . N ü s h u（女書）,
Women’s Commission as well as Vice-Chair
in 7% of executive directorships and 10% of
meaning simply ‘women’s writing’ was a
of the Hong Kong Federation of Women;
non-executive positions. Though influential
written simplification of the Chinese script
Shalini Mahtani, founder and Advisor to
women remain divided about the usefulness
based on the local dialect, and was passed
the Board of Community Business; and
of affirmative action, nearly everyone agrees
down through generations of women at a
Kay McArdle, Board Chairperson of The
that the present situation is unacceptable.
time when only men were officially taught
Women’s Foundation (NGO). The discussion
Several of September’s Women in Business
to read and write. The women of Jianyong
ranged from the bald statistics of women’s
panellists noted that not all women wish to
possessed this elegant script, which they
employment in Hong Kong, through the
rise as far as they can go, and that pregnancy
frequently wrote down or wove into their
mechanisms women in the business world
can in some cases be a valid consideration
fabrics, until their secret communication was
can use to succeed, to more subtle areas
for employers, yet the statistics demonstrate
at last stamped out during the Japanese
such as common gender differences in
a clear narrowing of the pyramid as women
occupation and the Cultural Revolution. The
gestures and facial expressions.
climb the professional ladder. The overall
last woman proficient in nü shu died at the
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8
Greening Up
number of women in employment in Hong
age of 98 in 2004, but scholars have gone to
The figures are certainly shocking.
Kong is impressively high by international
work and most of the remaining examples of
Community Business carried out a survey
standards, but that percentage is inverted for
nü shu script can now be translated. Many
in 2009 which found that only 9% of all
women in senior management.
of the surviving glimpses into that world are messages commiserating on arranged marriages and various other hardships
Facts and Figures
largely unknown to people today, yet the nü
Women as a percentage of Hong Kong’s workforce
shu script has become an enduring, and
(Statistics provided by the Women’s Foundation)
increasingly well-known symbol of solidarity among women. The British Chamber’s regular Women in Business networking events are a long way
PAGE 10 Wine
from the ‘sworn sisterhoods’ of Jianyong county, but something of that solidarity is evident, especially in their events and
Overall workforce: 53% Senior management: 35% Legco: 19% Academia: 14% Barristers: 10% Global average percentage of female CEOs: 8%
discussions. In September the British
Recruitment experts Korn/Ferry International estimated this
Chamber’s Women in Business held a
year, based on a sample number of Hong Kong companies,
Plus
panel discussion, ‘Smashing Through the
that roughly 2% of Hong Kong’s CEOs are women.
• News / New Appointments • Events • Shaken Not Stirred
Glass Ceiling’, with Christine Loh, CEO of (Continued on page 2)
www.britcham.com