UNIT 17

1	The mention of women in emerging economies often evokes a picture of oppressed and poverty-stricken victims in male-dominated cultures.  The problems are real and of critical importance.  But educated women in Brazil, Russia, India and China 乗乗 the BRIC economies which represent the four largest emerging markets 乗乗 are telling a different tale of power and success.
2	Just as in the U.S., BRIC women are flooding into universities and graduate schools.  They represent 60% of college graduates in Brazil and 57% in Russia.  These figures represent more than just a tiny elite.  Between 15 and 25% of young women in the BRIC are now college-educated 乗乗 a substantial number.  And they乫re not just earning degrees.  They are bursting with the desire to use them and have the opportunity to do so.
3	Childcare does not pose the same career challenge as in the U.S. and Western Europe; a strong network of relatives combined with inexpensive domestic help give BRIC women multiple shoulders to lean on.  They do not give up their careers after they have children.  Another important reason: smart companies facing shortages of skilled workers in emerging markets are designing workplaces and career models conducive to female success.  For example, one global business-services firm offers work-from-home, extended maternity leaves and other options for female workers with children.  These alternatives help the firm to keep its employees from quitting and going to other companies.
4	This is not to say that BRIC women don乫t have their own distinct set of career challenges.  Eldercare can sometimes blow up careers just as women reach the peak of their potential.  The vast majority of women surveyed 乗乗 81% 乗乗 have significant duties on the eldercare front and find it more difficult to subcontract their mother-in-law than their children.  Discrimination is another negative factor in emerging markets.  More than half of educated women in India, 48% of their counterparts in China, and 40% of Brazilian women professionals feel they receive inferior treatment at work because they are women.  Some encounter bias severe enough to make them consider scaling back their career goals or quitting altogether.  In addition, commutes are long and often unsafe for women in big cities in these countries.
5	These barriers emphasize the fact that the challenges faced by emerging-market women can be quite different from their counterparts in developed countries.  Consequently, the solutions cannot be versions of what works in the U.S. and Western Europe.  These rapidly expanding countries are the growth engine of the world 乗乗 and their educated women are helping to power the dynamo.  Considering the skills and the attitudes women bring to the table in these markets, strides they乫ve already made and their potential to further drive these markets, companies in the U.S. and Western Europe might want to think about how they can similarly nurture female ambition in established economies 乗乗 and make gender, not geography, a new source of growth.