福建师范大学外国语学院  2001级1班 谢曾颖

“Women receive lower payment at their job than men.” How often we hear statements like this. Some people may argue that Chinese women have made great strides towards equality. It may be true in some places where women can take up almost all the professions once occupied by men and even have equal opportunities to rise to leadership positions. But they fail to take notice of the fact that women are often the last to be hired but the first to be fired when the economy is stagnant. Therefore, we may well say that sexism exists at job market.

This is due to several factors. An important factor is the lingering attitude on both sides of women and their employers that women are not out for certain jobs. In some occupations employers tend to hire men rather than women, because they incline to think that women cannot be demanded overtime or traveling outside on business, because they need to go home and take care of their husbands, children and families. The burden of caring for the family channels women into lower-paying work where they need not work overtime or travel outside, such as the service professions.

Another contributing factor is that women often drop out at crucial points in their career to give birth. Women still have the primary responsibility for child rearing and they usually give up promotions that would conflict with home responsibilities for they still have the traditional idea that men work outside and women inside. Once an employer said that the age of 25 to 35 is the period when working consistently and hard is vital to advancement and security, which is also the years when women are likely to have children and go away from work. When they come back to work, their male subordinate may be their superior, or they may even lose their position in the company and become unemployed.

Still another reason is the feudal, superstitious and conventional values which make people pay more attention to male than female. So male can get more education and concern from birth to death, consequently they can get more opportunity of promotion in their career.

All statistic evidence lends support to the view that sexism still exists in nowadays’job market. Women have less opportunity to get job and promotion and therefore, they tend to get lower wages.