Chinese women working full-time are not only longing for economic independence, they are also working for a sense of job satisfaction and fulfillment, a recent survey has found.

It shows that despite their steadily improving social status, 66 percent of working women believe men are favored for promotions and raises, even when they are capable of the same work.

Meanwhile, about 70 percent of respondents are working for companies in which women account for 30 percent or less of the senior executives and managers.

Launched by the Sun Media Group before International Women’s Day, the survey interviewed more than 5,000 women through online polls, telephone calls and face-to-face talks.
“Women have come to a career bottleneck,” Yang Lan, a CPPCC member and popular TV presenter, said in an interview with cnr.cn.

“The number of women decision-makers in companies is far from enough. It is not because they don’t have opportunities or they are unqualified.”

Yang said the current retirement rules have created a glass ceiling for women. For instance, both men and women reach the peak of their careers in their late 40s. Women, however, are less favored for promotions since they retire at the age of 55, five years earlier than men.

“We hope society can provide an equal opportunity for women to enter senior management levels,” she said.

Now the question remains: Is China making its first steps towards recognizing human rights?

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