Women Leaders in Universities
in Hong Kong & China:
Challenges, Tensions,
Dilemmas and Opportunities
Professor Angelina YUEN-TSANG
Head, Department of Applied Social Sciences
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Professor Lixi ZHANG
President, China Women’s University
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Some Facts
Figures of women in leadership in Hong Kong &
China:


In the Chinese mainland (2004):
- 9.9% at the ministry level or above
- 12.6% at the bureau-level or above
In Hong Kong:
10.5% of all Policy Secretaries (2004/5)
19% in the Executive Council (2004/5)
18% in Legislative Council (2004/5)
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
Proportion of Female Teachers In Universities
in the Chinese mainland (%):
 38.2% (2000)
 Only 4 Presidents out of 73 national level
Universities (2006).

Proportion of Female Teachers In Hong Kong:
 8% at professor grade (2001/02)
 15% at senior lecturer grade (2003)
 Only 1 female Pro-Vice Chancellor in the
history of higher education up to now
(already retired) out of 8 Universities.
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Our Question
Why do Chinese women leaders in
Universities succeed in getting to the top?
 What are the tensions and challenges they
face in the process? What are the
opportunities they are given?
 What are the implications for policy and
practice?

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Our Research
•
•
•
•
We interviewed 10 Chinese women leaders
Universities in Hong Kong and China
(Deans and above in Hong Kong, Vice
Presidents and above in China). More to be
interviewed.
We used a life course perspective in our
research design
We conducted in-depth interviews
We used the grounded theory in our
analysis
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Our Initial Theory:
Balancing Tensions
That Chinese women leaders in Universities
have to skillfully engage in the art of balancing
tensions in all dimensions both in their private
and public spheres in order to get to the top.
 Under existing circumstances, the process is
harsh, demanding, straining and eliminating,
and only the “fittest” can survive.

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Our Initial Explanations
1. Entrenched Chinese Patriarchal Culture:
 Traditional values on gender relationships:
 Three Subordinations: “A woman has to
subordinate to her father in youth, her
husband in maturity, and her son in old
age”.
 “Men are responsible for outside, women
for inside”.
 “Men are superior, and female are
inferior”.
 “Virtuous women are those without
talents”.
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- These patriarchal values are deeply
entrenched in the Chinese culture and are
still affecting gender relationships in
Chinese societies both in the private and the
public arenas.
- Women in the academia are still expected to
perform most of the “feminine” roles at
home (cooking, homemaking, childcare,
elder care, etc.) regardless of their positions
and social status.
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2. Negative Impact of Equality Policies and
Conceptions:
-
In emphasizing on absolute equality
between male and female through the
introduction of equality policies and
practices, women in the academia are
expected to perform and to be assessed
exactly the same ways as men without
regard to their special needs,
characteristics and life course demands.
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`
As a result of the above multiple demands:
 Women have to balance tensions at home in
order to be a “virtuous woman”.
 Women have to balance tensions in the
workplace and to perform as competently as
men in the workplace in order to excel.
 Women also have to balance the tensions
between their private and the public spheres in
order to maintain a proper equilibrium in their
roadmap to University leadership.
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Private Sphere
Multiple
Family Roles
-wife
-mother
-daughter
-in-law etc.
Public Sphere
BALANCE
Multiple Roles in
the Academia
-teacher
-researcher
-administrative leader
-relationship builder etc.
Chinese Women’s Need to Balance Tensions
in both the public and private spheres
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Life Course Development of Chinese
Women Leaders in Universities
1. Childhood and youth:
 In most cases, gender identity was not
apparent during childhood. Many were not
treated as “girls” in their childhood.
 Many grew up in families which
emphasized on educational achievements.
 Many interviewees reported that they were
given heavy household responsibility and
leadership duties at home because of their
roles as eldest sisters.
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2. Education and entry to the academia:
 All of them had excellent academic
achievements in primary and secondary
schools and in Universities
 They enjoyed relatively smooth sail in their
early years in the academia and they were
not particularly aware of, or bothered by,
the impact of gender on their work
performance and assessment while
occupying junior positions.
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`
3. Marriage and family formation:
 Majority of interviewees perceived
marriage and family formation as a natural
and logical step in their life course
development .
 Tendency to select husbands who are
capable and who can command their
respect.
 Most of them give birth to their
child/children within a few years of their
marriage. Two did not have children
because of their failure to do so.
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 Many interviewees have given up career
pursuits (going abroad to study, actively
seeking promotion, involving in prestigious
research projects, getting academic papers
published) at certain point of their life
because of family demands and childcare
responsibilities.
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4. Advancement and promotion at work:

Most interviewees prefer to stay as academics
and did not actively seek for promotion to
leadership positions. Many were “invited”,
“persuaded”, or even “coerced” to make
applications/take up appointments by their
seniors/mentors because of the “collective
good”.

Interviewees were often apprehensive, or
even reluctant to apply/accept promotion
opportunities, especially during periods of
excessive family demands.
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
Interviewees were fearful of the maledominated organizational culture of senior
management in Universities, characterized by
aggressiveness, power politics, and exclusive
networks among male colleagues.

Interviewees also reported negative comments
from both male and female colleagues towards
women leaders in Universities as “ambitious”
and “aggressive”. They were often regarded
negatively as “superwomen”.
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
Some interviewees were promoted because of
the need to include the female gender in the
leadership team.

Some were promoted because of their
communication and interpersonal skills, and
their ability to mediate conflicts among staff
and students.

For those who actively sought to be promoted,
they had to fight extremely hard in the process
even though they perceived their abilities to be
far superior than their male competitors.
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5. Staying in University leadership:

Interviewees experienced excessive pressure
and tensions since they were expected to
excel in their academic and administrative
leadership, in their ability to handle
interpersonal relationships.

At the same time, they have to perform their
multiple roles at home just as other Chinese
women.
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
Some preferred to leave their management
roles (if there is the choice) and to return to
their academic positions because of their
uneasiness with the male-dominated
organizational culture of Universities.

It was lamented that: “Women leaders in the
academia have to perform 200% while men
only have to do 100% in order to have the
same level of achievement!”
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Differential achievements of men and women
in Universities in the life course
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Paths to University Leadership
1.

Academic excellence:
Academic excellence of the interviewees was a
fundamental factor contributing to their future rise to
leadership.
2.
Capacity for communication and
relationship building:

Capacity to communicate and good interpersonal
relationships was often cited as a critical factors
contributing to their appointment/selection.
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3.

Affirmative Policies:
In the early 1990s, the Chinese Government
launched a series of affirmative policies to
promote women leaders in all levels of
government, including the inclusion of women
in senior leadership of Universities. The
majority of women interviewees from China
were promoted because of vacancies in their
Universities for women leaders.
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4. Guidance from Mentors:
 Several interviewees were given valuable
advice and guidance from mentors, who were
usually males who were not gender-biased, on
their career development. They were able to
choose the strategic paths for development
and have eventually succeeded.
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5. Strategic Positioning
 Only a few indicated that they had taken
strategic steps on their own initiative to get to the
top. They were determined to get the posts and
lobbied for support in the elections and selection
processes. But the process was tiring.
6. Unintended Promotion
 Many interviewees were promoted to positions
of leadership reluctantly. They just happened to
occupy the right posts at the right time.
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Challenges and Dilemmas
1.
Gender role perception:
Many interviewees were bounded by their
own patriarchal values and beliefs:




They hope that their husbands should have
higher achievements.
They think that women should perform their
roles at home well despite their heavy
responsibilities at work.
They are complacent with their supportive
roles in University management. Many prefer to
be the “second in command”.
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2.
Family Demands:

They regard their families as having higher
priority than their work.
Many interviewees have forsaken career
advancements at certain stage of their life
course because of family demands.

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3. Male-dominated culture in Universities:

The culture of Universities are maledominated. The academic procedures,
promotion and appraisal systems, etc. are
created and controlled by males. Voices of
women academics are seldom represented.
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Implications for Policies & Practice
1.
Gender Mainstreaming in Policy Making
Processes:

Affirmative policies in Universities should be
introduced/continued in order to ensure the
promotion of women to senior leadership
positions.
Women should be represented in key policy
making committees of Universities in order to
ensure that the women’s voices be held and
be reflected in policies and practices.

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2. Network building among women leaders of
Universities:

To develop a network among women leaders in
Universities so as to enhance their resilience,
to provide mentorship, to develop mutual
support, and to create a platform for policy
advocacy.
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3. Training Programmes for Young Women
Academics:

To provide training and mentorship for young
women academics so as to enhance their
competitiveness and to provide support for
their career advancement. This is particularly
critical given the availability of promotion
opportunities under the new appointment
system.
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4.
Development of supportive services and
mechanisms to reduce the role burden of
women:

To provide all forms of supportive services
and facilities to reduce the role burden of
women and to enable them to pursue career
advancement and personal fulfillment.
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5. Transforming Values and Shifting the
Dominant Paradigm:
 Reduction and elimination of all forms of
discrimination and traditional patriarchal
values among men, women and the public
through long-term educational
programmes and affirmative actions.
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Thank you!
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