U.S. companies are lagging behind not just progressive Scandinavians but also businesses in emerging markets. Companies in countries just now shaping their economies have higher percentages of women business leaders than in the U.S.
全世界的企业都需要进一步对女性敞开大门。美国企业本应在这方面发挥带头作用。但它们并没有做到这一点。美国在这方面不仅落后于不断改进的斯堪的纳维亚半岛，也走在新兴市场后面。在经济刚刚成形的国家，女性在企业管理层所占的比重也要高于美国。
Not only does the U.S. lag behind several emerging market countries in terms of female leadership on company boards, but the gap extends to other executive roles. According to a 2013 report by Grant Thornton, only 20% of senior corporate leaders in the U.S. are women. Other G7 countries didn't fare so well either -- take Japan (7%) and the United Kingdom (19%).
和一些新兴市场国家相比，美国不仅女性董事长偏少，在其他管理职位上也存在差距。格兰特桑顿会计师事务所（Grant Thornton）今年公布的一份报告显示，在美国企业高级管理者中，女性只占20%。七国集团（G7）其他成员的表现也不算好——日本和英国的女性公司领导者比重分别为7%和19%。
The country with the most women in high places? China. Over half of corporate leaders in China are women. Estonia (40%), Vietnam (33%), and Botswana (32%) rank in the top 10.
哪个国家女性企业领导者所占的比重最高呢？中国。在中国，一半以上的公司管理者都是女性。排名前十的国家还包括爱沙尼亚（40%）、越南（33%）和博茨瓦纳（32%）。
"I'm surprised that they're making as much progress as they are, " says Erica O'Malley, a partner at Grant Thornton.
格兰特桑顿会计师事务所合伙人艾丽卡•奥马利说：“这些国家取得这么大的进步让我感到意外。”
How are these nations making such progress?
它们是怎样取得这样的进步呢？
First off, national cultures that may appear conservative on the surface are in fact more complex. In a 2012 paper called "Cultural constraints on the emergence of women as leaders, " authors Geoffrey Leonardelli and Soo Min Toh, both associate professors at the University of Toronto, explore the effects of cultural rigidity related to female leadership. So-called '"tight" cultures punish members of the group from deviating from cultural norms. In general, culturally inflexible countries do not support women leaders.
首先，表面上看似保守的国家文化实际上更加复杂。2012年，多伦多大学（University of Toronto）两位副教授杰弗里•莱昂纳尔德利和苏敏窦发表了一篇论文，题为《文化对女性成为领导者的制约》（Cultural constraints on the emergence of women as leaders）。文中探讨了文化成见对女性发挥领导作用的影响。他们指出，所谓的“紧绷型”文化会对偏离常态的成员进行惩罚。总的来说，文化弹性较低的国家都不支持女性成为领导者。
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。”