Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Quanling hits out at gender bias of work-family balance
- ‘I hate the question’ former TV news anchor tells male interviewer
- She then demands to know if male businessmen get asked the same
One of China’s most respected television news anchors, who is now a successful entrepreneur, has struck a blow for equality after she was questioned by a journalist about work-family balance.
Zhang Quanling was asked by a male interviewer how she balanced work and family life, during an interview for Chinese online news outlet Eeo.com.cn.
“I hate the question, as lying behind it is bias [against women],” she said bluntly.
Footage of the interview was posted on the Twitter-like platform Weibo last week, quickly going viral and earning praise for Zhang, 46, who spent nearly 20 years with state broadcaster CCTV before resigning in 2015 to co-found Purple Bull Startups, a venture capital firm where she manages funds worth 600 million yuan (US$87.3 million).
“This question actually imposes an additional requirement on women entrepreneurs – [by suggesting] that if a woman doesn’t look after her children, she is not a good mother, which is a very, very unfair comment,” she said.
