中国女人缘何比美国女人有地位

    全世界的企业都需要进一步对女性敞开大门。美国企业本应在这方面发挥带头作用。但它们并没有做到这一点。美国在这方面不仅落后于不断改进的斯堪的纳维亚半岛，也走在新兴市场后面。在经济刚刚成形的国家，女性在企业管理层所占的比重也要高于美国。

    和一些新兴市场国家相比，美国不仅女性董事长偏少，在其他管理职位上也存在差距。格兰特桑顿会计师事务所（Grant Thornton）今年公布的一份报告显示，在美国企业高级管理者中，女性只占20%。七国集团（G7）其他成员的表现也不算好——日本和英国的女性公司领导者比重分别为7%和19%。

    哪个国家女性企业领导者所占的比重最高呢？中国。在中国，一半以上的公司管理者都是女性。排名前十的国家还包括爱沙尼亚（40%）、越南（33%）和博茨瓦纳（32%）。

    格兰特桑顿会计师事务所合伙人艾丽卡•奥马利说：“这些国家取得这么大的进步让我感到意外。”

    它们是怎样取得这样的进步呢？

    首先，表面上看似保守的国家文化实际上更加复杂。2012年，多伦多大学（University of Toronto）两位副教授杰弗里•莱昂纳尔德利和苏敏窦发表了一篇论文，题为《文化对女性成为领导者的制约》（Cultural constraints on the emergence of women as leaders）。文中探讨了文化成见对女性发挥领导作用的影响。他们指出，所谓的“紧绷型”文化会对偏离常态的成员进行惩罚。总的来说，文化弹性较低的国家都不支持女性成为领导者。

    但也有例外。具体来说，在执政领域对性别比例有传统规范或者自上而下地规定企业中男女比例需达到均衡的国家在这方面往往更胜一筹。比如，2011年马来西亚政府通过法令，要求马来西亚公司在五年内使女性董事所占的比例达到三分之一。未能达到要求的公司将面临严厉惩罚：它们有可能被勒令退市。

    但美国与众不同。美国企业并没有积极响应政府改变现状的指令，反而还在19世纪末和20世纪初对现状加以巩固。美国的第二次工业革命由钢铁、煤炭和石油推动，而设计者则都是男性。

    此后，时移世易。但文化规范一旦形成，它在很长一段时间里都将难以打破。如果掌权者倾向于让那些在他们觉得支持自己的人围绕在自己身边，在这种情况下就更难打破。

    Businesses across the world need to become more welcoming to women. Arguably, United States-based companies should be leading this charge. They aren't.

    U.S. companies are lagging behind not just progressive Scandinavians but also businesses in emerging markets. Companies in countries just now shaping their economies have higher percentages of women business leaders than in the U.S.

    Not only does the U.S. lag behind several emerging market countries in terms of female leadership on company boards, but the gap extends to other executive roles. According to a 2013 report by Grant Thornton, only 20% of senior corporate leaders in the U.S. are women. Other G7 countries didn't fare so well either -- take Japan (7%) and the United Kingdom (19%).

    The country with the most women in high places? China. Over half of corporate leaders in China are women. Estonia (40%), Vietnam (33%), and Botswana (32%) rank in the top 10.

    "I'm surprised that they're making as much progress as they are," says Erica O'Malley, a partner at Grant Thornton.

    How are these nations making such progress?

    First off, national cultures that may appear conservative on the surface are in fact more complex. In a 2012 paper called "Cultural constraints on the emergence of women as leaders," authors Geoffrey Leonardelli and Soo Min Toh, both associate professors at the University of Toronto, explore the effects of cultural rigidity related to female leadership. So-called '"tight" cultures punish members of the group from deviating from cultural norms. In general, culturally inflexible countries do not support women leaders.

    But there are exceptions to this tendency. Namely, when countries with traditional gender norms implement government mandates or top-down rules about gender equity in business, they tend to take hold. For example, in 2011, Malaysia's cabinet approved a law mandating that companies based in the country include one-third female representation on corporate boards within the next five years. The punishment for failure is harsh: Companies that don't make the cut risk being delisted.

    But this is America. U.S. companies don't respond well to government mandates to change the status quo. And that status was solidified in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. America's second industrial revolution was fueled by steel, coal, and oil and designed by men.

    The world has since changed, but cultural norms stick around long after they're relevant, especially given the tendency of people in power to surround themselves with people who think like them.