As Silicon Valley companies struggle to hire women into their senior ranks, China’s Alibaba Group Holding is setting an example of how to do it.
The Hangzhou-based e-commerce company, which plans to sell shares next month in what may be the largest initial public offering in US history, counts nine females among the 27 partners who control management, including Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu and Chief People Officer Lucy Peng. That’s triple the ratio of women in board seats and senior executive roles at the largest companies in California.
The image of Silicon Valley as a boys’ club has been reinforced by data showing only a fraction of leadership roles at companies such as Google and Twitter are filled by women, with men also making up the majority of the total workforce. Alibaba, founded 15 years ago in Jack Ma’s apartment, included women from the start and they’ve helped shape a corporate culture rare both in the US and China.
(Source: Jakarta Globe )