As China's society and economy have become more open and service industry more developed, women with a good education or talent have come to enjoy more and better career opportunities than before.

But does the improved environment enable women to compete with men on the an equal basis? Maybe not.

When they make decisions or judgments, traditional ideas about the relationship between men and women still have a great impact on them.

A recent survey covering over 40 scientific research institutions in Shanghai found that the commitment of women scientists and researchers to their careers is confined by their families and by sexism.

Among 17,860 people employed by research institutions in Shanghai, 32.7 percent are women. However, among those with senior titles, only 15 percent are women. Among 428 women scientists and researchers interviewed, only 42 had their own research projects.

Although there are a dozen renowned women scientists in Shanghai, such as astronomer Ye Shuhua, many women researchers chose to focus less on their career and instead take care of their families, according to Hou Guofang, a government official who was in charge of the survey.

While conducting the survey, Hou talked to many women scientists whose potential was not matched by their achievements.

"Many of them, mostly those older than 30, were reluctant to devote themselves to their careers or take more responsibilities in research projects after they were married, especially after having a child," she said. The survey showed that 20 to 30 percent of women researchers do most of the housework at home.

She noted that many of their husbands were also scientists. "They prefer to shoulder more responsibility in taking care of the family, thus supporting their husbands' careers, instead of improving their own," she said.

Meng Yankun, chairwoman of the Shanghai Women's Federation attributes this to the traditional definition of women, which still influences women today.

Career struggle

In China, it was generally accepted that husbands should work and earn money to support their families, while the duty of wives was to stay home and take care of their families. Such perceptions still dominate modern society.

"Women still haven't fully liberated themselves from putting their roles as mothers and wives ahead of their role as career women. This results in a general lack of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, thus dependency," Meng said.

Even worse, a similar survey conducted among university students found that many women students' ambitions were to marry someone rich and nice, instead of establishing their own careers.

However, more women, especially young women, are breaking the stereotype of women's role and putting their own career first if they fail to handle career and family at the same time.

"What I was taught as a little girl and what I learned later conflict," said Lan Zhenzhen, communication & PR director of L'Oreal China.

Born in the early 1960s, she was taught to be content, submissive, dependent and conservative. However, as a professional woman, she knows she should be aggressive.

"I had a hard time adapting to the new situation and changing myself," she recalled.

Compared with many of her peers in their early 40s, she said she is happier because all the struggles of her early years have paid off.

"I have more choices, thus enjoy more freedom to do what I want to do and like to do," she said.

Now mother of a one-year-old girl and a baby-boy to be delivered in the months to come, Lan said she is content with what she has now.

"But that doesn't stop me attempting to achieve more," she added.

Even if she retires from her current job one day, she said she would find something else worthwhile to do, instead of staying at home and doing nothing.

She is jealous of young women today, who she thinks have a more open social environment for women to achieve their potential.

"They have learned to be aggressive at the very beginning without being confined by any conventional thinking," she said.

Fashion photographer Li Haiyan, 26, is such a woman. When she started her own studio six years ago, she didn't know any other women working behind the camera.

"I love photography and I love taking pictures of beautiful people. I didn't think too much. I just wanted to give it a try," she said, explaining why she had entered a field dominated by men.

Six years later, she expanded her studio from 10 sqm to 160 sqm step by step and became a famous photographer in the field.

But this is by no means a path lined with flowers. "There were several months in which I only earned 1,000 yuan (US$120), which couldn't even cover my rent."

She has also had to face sexism. On a number of occasions, clients declined her just because she was a woman. Working in the fashion world, she witnesses too many girls trade their beauty and youth for wealth.

"That's absolutely not my style," she said with wild laughter that qualified her to be on a fashion magazine's cover. "Independence always goes first. I simply can't imagine a life as one of those housewives, who spend their days sleeping, shopping, going to beauty salons or competing with each other through clothes and accessories."

Nevertheless, she still hopes to get married and have a baby before the age of 35, because "a woman without marriage and child is incomplete."

"But I don't think I'm ready to marry before my career settles down," she added.

Inadequate support

That's a typical choice among many career women in Shanghai: spend more time on a career which seems to rely on sacrificing one's love life, an option which can seem quite fragile.

She also concedes that sexism still exists and sometimes makes her frustrated. A couple of times she almost gave up. But she didn't.

The survey of women scientists found that 82.9 percent of them had not been promoted in the previous five years. For those luck enough to get a promotion, most had only had one promotion.

Many respondents said that although theoretically Shanghai provides a lot of opportunities for them, obtaining such opportunities is not yet equal between men and women, which plays a large part in blocking their further development.

The survey report called for concrete supportive measures to encourage women to take up challenges and realize equality.

"Accessibility and affordability of domestic help should be developed immensely to free women from housework and focus on their careers," the report says.

(Shanghai Star March 5, 2004)