Li Mingming, 27, works as a media department manager of an Internet service company. She is proud of her job, and never ceases to chat about it to others, even to taxi drivers on her way to work. Her enthusiasm is infectious.
Lin Na, another female employee of an ICP located in south China, is in charge of her company’s life program channel. She often works night shifts and at weekends. “But I never feel tired and boring,” she said, “as receiving and replying to e-mails, and writing and editing stories have become part of my life. I don’t have the impression that there is any boundary or conflict between work and life.”
More and more women are eager to give full play to their abilities in the new and exciting world of the Internet. Modern office buildings, interesting work and good pay are what attract these web women. The new industry needs qualified personnel, and, moreover, the new profession provides absolute equality between the sexes, according to experts.
In Beijing, women now have every access to the Internet business. Yu Hongyan, general manager of the Zhaodaola website is so far the only female boss in Beijing’s IT industry. In April this year, she was invited to give a speech on “How Far Is the IT Industry From Chinese Women?” as part of a series of academic discussions on Chinese women’s living conditions and development in the 21st century, sponsored by the Women Channel’s of the Changsha TV station.
A graduate of Beijing Industry University, Yu worked at the China Software Company for six years, and then she studied and worked in Japan and the United States. She has been chosen as one of China’s top ten IT wizards.
“I fight side by side with men for a bright future for China’s IT industry,” said Yu. “I’m willing to do my best to help Chinese women have a better understanding of the Internet and allow the Internet enter people’s daily life.”
Most managers of Internet companies are 20-30 years old. They are the new generation of Chinese who have got accustomed to the office atmosphere that female managers, engineers and programmers are playing an important role in the high-tech field, though these young women are still readers of gossip column and shopping fans.
The IT industry is employee-friendly to Chinese women. Traditionally, it was men who did most of the technical work, while women controlled the PR departments and those of administration. That more and more female employees are working at various departments of the network industry is a signal that the rising of the sector may exert a profound influence on the Chinese society than people expected, a sociologist says.
