經濟增長與性別平等

經濟增長與性別平等

經濟增長與性別平等有什么樣的關系？在發(fā)達國家與新興市場國家，女性的發(fā)展機會如何？什么樣的政策可以促進女性的機會平等？FT助理總編Khalaf的這篇文章提供了一些重要的啟示。

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

composure 沉著

counterpart 相對應的事物/人

divergence 分歧，背馳

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Growth helps narrow gender gap in fast-growing economies

By Roula Khalaf, FT assistant and foreign editor

* * *

Women cheered, some men booed, but everyone took notice when Christine Lagarde quipped in 2010 that had Lehman Brothers been Lehman Sisters, the global financial crisis might have looked different.

It was only half a joke. As Ms Lagarde, France’s finance minister at the time and now head of the International Monetary Fund, later wrote: “When women are called to action in times of turbulence, it is often on account of their composure, sense of responsibility and great pragmatism in delicate situations.”

Perhaps surprisingly, it is an argument that emerging markets have recognised better than the developed world. Amid a growing international debate on bridging the gender gap, the rapid economic growth of emerging markets in recent years has greatly increased opportunities for women in business, giving them a boost over their counterparts in developed countries.

This would seem to contradict perceptions dominant in the west of women in developing nations. The more prevalent image is that tradition and social mores in many of these countries, as well as educational and economic disadvantages, limit women’s empowerment in business.

To some extent the perceptions reflect reality: although women lead Argentina, Brazil and Chile, 70% of executives in Latin America say family pressures cause women to leave their jobs, according to a survey by McKinsey, the consultancy.

In China, women are still expected to put their families first, an attitude reinforced by the one-child policy. Chinese women are also expected to take care of the elderly in the family.

“Observers in the west tend to see third-world women as victims,” write Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Ripa Rashid in their 2011 book Winning The War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women are the Solution. “In a similar vein, business leaders tend not to have women on their radar screen.

“The fact is that no company can afford to ignore highly qualified female talent if it wants to compete in these fast-expanding economies – and win,” the authors say.

According to Grant Thornton’s 2014 Women in Business report, which surveyed about 6,600 privately owned companies in 45 countries, the proportion of senior roles filled by women across the Brics countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) exceeds 30%, compared with about 20% in the G7 group of industrialised nations, and higher than the 24% global average. Some statistics are striking: in China more than 60% of chief financial officers are women.

Across the Brics, the percentage of companies that have no women in senior roles has fallen from 39% last year to 18% this year. In the boardroom too, women in emerging markets score better than the global average.

This special report sheds further light on that progress, with data showing that in China about 30% of entrepreneurs are women.

Six out of 24 self-made female billionaires worldwide on the Forbes 2013 list are from China (including Hong Kong), more than any other country outside the US.

In Turkey, meanwhile, 12% of chief executives are women, according to the World Bank, higher than the EU average.

“Emerging markets do seem really to value some of the things that women bring to boards and senior roles,” says Francesca Lagerberg, global head of tax at Grant Thornton.

“The approach to business is different and there’s a real recognition that innovation and creativity are sometimes more closely linked to female leaders.”

What lies behind the numbers? One factor is education: as the authors of Winning the War For Talent point out, women in emerging markets are graduating from universities and graduate schools at rates that match and often outstrip those of men.

Family and tradition can work to women’s advantage. In China, and in countries of the former Soviet Union, women’s participation in the labour force has been encouraged; in conservative societies close-knit extended families and affordable help can make it easier for women to work.

The need for women to contribute to the household income has been a driver of ambition – but more jobs also have been available.

Saadia Zahidi, head of gender parity and human capital at the World Economic Forum, says: “If you have large, fast-growing companies – say you go from 50 to 500 posts [in a company] – the need for talent overcomes barriers that may exist.”

Institutional backing for working women has also helped, with growing support for remote working arrangements, flexible hours and paid maternity leave.

Imposing quotas can be less controversial than in Europe. Ms Lagerberg says more and more business leaders in emerging markets say they back board quotas for women. “It’s telling that people engaged in this are beginning to see where it should go. It might be that quotas come in several years’ time, but business leaders are becoming more conscious about process,” she says.

There is still a long way to go. And the risk is that the progress achieved so far will not be accelerated as growth in emerging economies begins to slow.

Far too many women still face social pressures to leave their jobs after having children; their entrepreneurial drive is also stifled by constrained access to credit. The wage gap should also narrow. Even if they might receive equal pay to men when they join the labour force, women find the disparity widens as they move up the organisation.

Ms Lagerberg cites the need for more role models and mentoring to push women up the corporate ladder. “The more you see senior women in role modelling positions, the more you inspire others to come through. You need [mentoring] programmes with a specific diversity element.”

Other experts warn that improvements at the top do not necessarily mean progress at the bottom. The picture for senior women in emerging markets may be brighter than in the west, but women’s participation in the labour force is lower than in Europe or the US.

Ms Zahidi says that in rapidly growing economies such as Brazil, China and Indonesia, women are joining the labour force at relatively faster rates than men.

But in India, women’s participation in the workforce has risen only 4%, to 34%, in the past eight years. “In India, a policy was just passed [which means] all publicly listed companies have to have one female director on board ... and there’s a trend to get more women in leadership positions.

“But this is also the country where a lot of the poverty and illiteracy is concentrated among females,” Ms Zahidi says. “Because of cultural implications you see a divergence between low- and high-income women.”

請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內容，完成以下自測題目：

1. "Women cheered, some men booed, but everyone took notice when..."

What does "boo" mean?

a. cheer

b. offended

c. thumb up

d. scorn

2. What is the traditional view in the west about gender equality in emerging markets?(You may look back and do the scanning.)

a. Labour participation rates of women are irrelevant.

b. Educational inferiority hinders women's careers.

c. Lack of ambition of women is the main cause of gender gap.

d. The culture determines the role of women in the society.

3. What does China and other emerging economies have in common?

a. Women are joining the labour force faster than men.

b. More than 60% of chief financial officers are women.

c. The gender gap is closing both at the top and at the bottom.

d. They are imposing boardroom quotas for women.

4. What is most fundamental factor of bridging gender gap?

a. A growing economy that is hungry for talent.

b. People's mindset is changing about women's role.

c. More women have been elected as national leaders.

d. Remote working, flexible hours and paid maternity.

[1] 答案d. scorn

解釋：第一句是說，拉加德說如果“雷曼兄弟”是“雷曼姐妹”公司的話，金融危機可能不那么嚴重了，一些女性對此歡呼，一些男性_____，但所有人都注意到了......這里顯然應是喝倒彩的意思。

[2] 答案b. Educational inferiority hinders women's careers.

解釋：如果你記不清具體內容但記得文中的大概位置，你就能在第四段看到This would seem to contradict perceptions dominant...這顛覆了傳統(tǒng)的看法，轉折后面一定是重要的。

[3] 答案a. Women are joining the labour force faster than men.

解釋：在倒數(shù)第三段。BCD項都可以排除，B是只有中國，C是與事實相反，D主要存在于歐洲，文章最后幾段一直在強調，新興市場國家的中下階層的女性，并沒有像精英階層的女性那樣縮小了男女差距。

[4] 答案a. A growing economy that is hungry for talent.

解釋：不難發(fā)現(xiàn)A是比較根本的要素，BCD則是衍生的現(xiàn)象，經濟的增長一方面創(chuàng)造了大量的就業(yè)崗位，需要女性的加入；一方面，市場競爭獎勵唯才是舉，而懲罰偏見："the need for talent overcomes barriers that may exist","no company can afford to ignore highly qualified female talent if it wants to compete".因此，女性的人力資本投入增加，而社會角色和觀念也在不斷發(fā)生變化。