Page 58 - Chinese Woman Living and Working

FEMININITY AND AUTHORITY 45
or responsible for financial affairs. Two were managers with international companies, one
was the director of a small Chinese trade and shipping company, one was a deputy
manager, two were consultants with international companies, one was a vice-director of a
Chinese human resource company. There were two product marketers, one chief
pharmacist and one teacher.
The majority of women interviewed (over 60 per cent) were 30 years of age and older.
Only two women in the sample were in the 20–25 age group. Within the sample, the
highest level of education achieved was master’s degree and the lowest level of schooling
was high school. Over one-third of respondents (almost 37 per cent) had completed
specialised tertiary study, while the remainder were divided evenly between high school
education, undergraduate university degrees and master’s degrees. None of the
respondents had completed doctorates. These figures are far higher than the average and
display this sample’s unique position in relation to the wider population.
In Table 2.1, I have ranked education numerically from one to five, with one
representing the lowest level of education achieved amongst the participants and five
being the highest level.
Table 2.1 Educational levels

*Percentages have been rounded up.
In Table 2.2, these educational rankings are provided for each participant, along with
their job description and age, it can be seen that of the four high school graduates, two
worked as accountants, and two worked in hospitality: one as a restaurant foreperson and
one as a bar manager. At the higher end of the education spectrum, of the four master’s
degree holders, one was the chief representative for an international management
consulting firm, one was a consultant with an international human resources firm, one
was the vice-director of a Chinese human resource company and one was a senior business
manager with an American joint venture telecommunications organisation. Of the four
participants with undergraduate degrees, one was the director of a human resources
company, one was the product marketer and quality controller for a foreign electrical
appliances manufacturing company, one was a teacher and the fourth was a manager in the
import-export division of an American automotive parts manufacturer. Seven of the
participants had specialised tertiary qualifications. In this group there were three
accountants, a restaurant manager, a deputy manager of an enterprise development
company’s marketing department, a sales and marketing manager for a beer company and
a chief pharmacist.