经济学人11:性别歧视在亚洲"大行其道"

 　　Business.

　　商业。

　　Women managers in Asia.

　　女性高管在亚洲。

　　Untapped talent.

　　尚待开发的人才。

　　Sexism is rife¹ in Asia. That creates an opportunity for non-chauvinist firms.

　　性别歧视在亚洲"大行其道"。这为非大男子主义至上的企业创造了机遇。

　　IN THE West, women typically make up 10-20% of upper management and company boards. They are relatively² lucky. A report from McKinsey, a consultancy, shows that Asian women lag far behind.

　　在西方，女性通常占据10-20%的公司高层和董事会职位。相比之下，她们是幸运的。来自麦肯锡咨询机构（McKinsey）的报告显示在此方面，亚洲女性大大落后了。

　　There are exceptions. In Australia women's share of board and executive-committee jobs is roughly on a par³ with that in America and parts of Europe. Singapore too has a large number of women in senior management (see chart). But elsewhere the picture is mostly dire⁴, and not necessarily because the countries concerned are poor. In Japan and South Korea, both rich, women are about as likely to sit on boards as men are to serve tea.

　　例外也是有的。在澳大利亚，女性在董事会和执行领导层所占份额与美国和欧洲部分水平一致。新加坡也有大量女性工作在高级经理职位上。但在其他地方，女高管的境地就多半是岌岌可危的了，也不一定，都因为相关国家很穷。在日本和韩国这两个富裕国家，女子就很可能只是给坐在董事会里的男人们倒茶端水，而不是一起议事。

　　One reason why so few women in Asia get plum jobs is that in most countries far fewer of them are in the workforce⁵ than in the West, where their labour-force participation⁶ rate is usually around 60-70%. In India only about one woman in three has a formal job, though millions sweat on farms and in family businesses. Education is unequal, too. In 2009-10 only 10-15% of students entering the elite⁷ Indian Institutes of Management were female. But even in Asian countries where plenty of women leap from college onto the corporate⁸ ladder, they do not climb as high as men.

　　很少有亚细亚女性会得到称心如意的工作，一个原因是多数亚洲国家里，在职场中仅有极少数的女子，而在西方女性参与劳动（工作）率一般大致在60-70%。在印度，三个女子中大约只有一个有正式工作，虽然有数百万的女性在农场和家庭事务上挥洒汗水。教育也是不平等的。09到10年度，进入印度精英管理学院的学生中仅有10-15%是女性。但即使是在那些有众多女性能从大学走上职业之路的国家，她们也没攀登到男性所能达到的高度。

　　The most common reasons given are much the same as in Europe: the double burden of work and domestic responsibilities; the requirement in many senior jobs to be always available and free to travel; women's reluctance⁹ to blow their own trumpet¹⁰; and the scarcity¹¹ of female role models. In Asia, an additional hurdle¹² is the lack of public services to support families, such as child care.

　　与在欧洲一样，最为普遍也是肯定的原因是：职场与家庭责任的双重重担；高管职位随时随地的出差要求(受家庭牵连，女性做不到这点）；女性对自卖自夸的不情愿；以及女性榜样的稀缺。而在亚洲，另一个障碍是缺乏诸如孩童看护（Child Care）一类的，援助家庭的公共服务。

　　So is it just a question of waiting until Asia catches up with the West? The McKinsey report's authors, Claudia Süssmuth-Dyckerhoff, Jin Wang and Josephine Chen, think it is not as simple as that. Having studied 744 large companies and quizzed 1,500 executives in ten Asian countries, they conclude that, unlike their Western counterparts, Asian senior managers are not very interested in the subject. Some 70% of them did not see "gender¹³ diversity" as a strategic priority.

　　所以，这个问题只是：等待亚洲赶上西方的脚步吗？麦肯锡报告的作者，Claudia Süssmuth-Dyckerhoff，王进（音译）和乔瑟夫?陈（Josephine Chen），认为问题不是那样简单。在研究了774家大公司和问卷调查了1500位来自十个国家的高管，他们总结出，不像西方的同僚，亚洲的高级经理人们对这个话题兵不感兴趣。他们中大约70%不认为"性别多样性"是一项当务之急。

　　The McKinsey authors think such managers are misguided. They point to companies in Asia that have done well out of recruiting lots of women, such as Shiseido, a Japanese cosmetics¹⁴ company (whose customers are mainly female), and Cisco, an American technology firm which snaps up Asian female talent. It is one of several Western firms that benefit from Asian sexism, in that it is easier to recruit good women when their compatriots ignore them.

　　麦肯锡报告的作者们认为这些经理人们是错误的。他们给出了一些在亚洲从任用女性中获利，并取得成功的公司，如资生堂（Shiseido），一家日本化妆品公司（它的顾客主要是女性），以及思科（Cisco），一家美国抢夺亚洲女性人才的科技公司。这只是从亚洲性别歧视中获益的西方公司中的一家，当女性的同胞们都忽略排斥她们的时候，聘用她们就非常容易了。

　　A study in 2011 by Heidrick & Struggles, a headhunter, found that a third of Asian executives were worried about being able to attract and retain the staff they needed in the next two years. Women could help fill the gap.

　　一份2011年来自Heidrick & Struggles人才猎头公司的研究发现有三分之一的亚洲公司高管担心能否在未来两年内吸引和维持所需的员工数量。女性有助于填补这个空当。

　　In a book published last year, "Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets", Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Ripa Rashid found that, despite cultural constraints¹⁵, women in developing countries were increasingly well qualified¹⁶. Judging by what they told pollsters, they were also more ambitious than Western women, and more loyal to their employers than men.

　　一本去年出版的书，《在新兴市场中赢得人才战争》（"Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets"）之中，Sylvia Ann Hewlett 和 Ripa Rashid发现，尽管有文化限制，发展中国家中具有学历、能胜任的女性们越来越多了。由她们对调查者所言来判断，她们比西方女性更有抱负，也比男性更忠诚于老板。

　　Citing studies suggesting that firms with more women at the top perform better, the McKinsey report urges Asian companies to do more to harness female talent. It will be a hard sell, but according to Ms Wang, "Five to ten years might do it."

　　麦肯锡报告援引了数篇研究，它们都暗示高层有更多女性的企业在市场上表现更好，所以它催促公司们在利用女性人才方面更进一步。这将是个很难有市场的主意，但据王女士的说法，"五到十年也许会有很好的效果。"

1 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

7 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

10 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

11 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

12 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

13 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

14 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

15 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

16 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。