Appendix: Some Statistics on the Participation of Women in Administration (1971 figures)
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Appendix: Some Statistics on the Participation of Women in Administration (1971 figures)
In general, it is Party policy that a minimum of 30 percent of women should work in administrative departments. For example, we were told that 30 percent of the national minorities’ organizers were women. In practice, whenever an administrative post fall vacant a woman will be chosen in preference to a man with equal political qualifications, if no man is found with higher qualifications.
The factory at Zhaoyan
| total | women | men | |
| Workers | 360 | 255 (80%) | 72 (20%) |
| Party cell | 9 | 8 | 1 |
| Revolutionary Committee | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| Teams (5 teams of four members each) | 20 | 16 (80%) | 4 (20%) |
It’s useful to compare the ratios of men in positions of administrative responsibility to the total number of men, and of women in positions of administrative responsibility to the total number of women.
| total | women | men | |
| Inhabitants | 360 | 255 | 72 |
| Party cell | 9 | 8 (2.7*) | 1 (1.4%) |
| Revolutionary Committee | 8 | 6 (2.1%) | 2 (2.9%) |
| Teams | 20 | 16 (5.5%) | 4 (5.5%) |
*Percentages of total male and female populations respectively.
The Gynecological Hospital in Beijing
| total | women | men | |
| workers | 442 | 420 (95%) | 22 (5%) |
| party cell | 9 | 5 (55%) | 4 (45%) |
| revolutionary committee | 24 | 10 (40%) | 14 (60%) |
| teams (12 teams of 8 members each) | 96 | 77 (80%) | 19 (20%) |
Because of the surplus of women in the hospital as a whole, the above figures are not as significant as the figures given in the table below, which shows percentages of the total male and female populations:
| women | men | |
| party cell | 5 (1.2%) | 4 (19%) |
| revolutionary committee | 10 (2.4%) | 14 (64%) |
| teams | 77 (18%) | 19 (86%) |
Since membership of party cell, revolutionary committee, and team overlaps (in fact all cell and committee members are also team members) there are only 77 individual women and 19 individual men altogether in administrative positions. While the degree of participation of women usually decreases the higher you go up the leadership ladder, in this case the gap between men and women is narrower at the higher level of party cell than it is in the revolutionary committee. It may be that, given the small total of men, their participation has been artificially increased by a policy of sending male party cadres to this hospital.
The People’s Commune at Shawan (near Hangzhou)
| total | women/girls | men/boys | |
| inhabitants | 22,926 | 11,926 | 11,630 |
| labor force | 12,252 | 5820 (47.5%) | 6432 (52.5%) |
| party committee members | 110 | 49 (45%) | 61 (55%) |
| “The vanguard” (elected for a term of one year) | 300 | 287 | 13 |
| youth league | 422 | 280 (66%) | 142 (34%) |
| women’s committee members | 5500 | 5500 | – |
| revolutionary committee | 260+ | 44 (16%+) | 216 (84%) |
| permanent office of the revolutionary committee | 5 | 2* | 3 |
* Including the vice-president
The Sino-Albanian People’s Commune
| total | women/girls | men/boys | |
| labor force | 10,400 | 5300 (51%) | 5100 (49%) |
| party | 35% | 65% | |
| revolutionary committee | 25% | 75% | |
| Team officers | 50% | 50% |
The Children’s Palace in Shanghai
| total | Girls | Boys | |
| full-time members | 200 | 100 | 100 |
| revolutionary committee | 45% | 55% | |
| brigade member (in 4 brigades) | 50% | 50% | |
| League of Red Guards | 20 | 65% | 35% |