商界之中:中国女人缘何比美国女人有地位

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.
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。

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.
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。

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.
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。

Emerging markets don't face that problem in the same way. Many are undergoing their very own industrial revolutions right now, and even culturally conservative countries by 2013 standards probably look like socially progressive free-love fests compared to the buttoned-up division of labor prevalent in turn-of-the-century America.
新兴市场不存在这样的问题。许多新兴市场目前正在进行自己的工业革命。按照2013年的标准，一些国家的文化显得较为保守；但在劳动分工领域，和世纪之交处处保守的美国相比，就连这些国家看起来可能都像是出现了推动社会前进的“性解放运动”。

Emerging market economies also have more opportunities to hire women since they are growing, O'Malley says. "If you look at more traditional-valued countries who you think would struggle with putting women in leadership rules, they're also the growth countries, so they're creating new jobs." As these nations are developing their business cultures, women are entering the workforce in high places from the get-go.
女性在处于增长状态的新兴市场经济体所获得的就业机会也较多。奥马利指出：“大家可能认为那些价值观较为传统的国家会纠结于是否让女性担任领导工作，但观察一下这些国家就会发现，它们都是增长型经济体，也就是说它们都在创造就业机会。”随着这些国家形成自己的企业文化，女性刚刚进入劳动力大军时就会处于较高层次。

The U.S. has less of a clean slate, and will have to quickly come up with an alternative to top-down government mandates to encourage the appointment of senior-level women at corporations. "It would not be a good business strategy to sit and wait," O'Malley says.
美国在这方面的法令比较模糊，因此必须迅速用其他方法来取代自上而下的政令，以便鼓励企业在高级管理职位上聘用女性。奥玛利说：“消极坐等可不是什么好的公司策略。”