Motivation to Manage in China and Hong Kong: A Gender Comparison of Managers

Although women comprise an important part of the labor force in Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China (PRC), they remain underrepresented and underutilized in managerial positions. This study investigates the applicability of role motivation theory in the Chinese culture and examines if lack of motivation to manage is a potential explanation for this underrepresentation. Data were collected from 127 Hong Kong (68 men and 59 women) and 175 mainland Chinese (128 men and 47 women) managers. As expected, Hong Kong managers possess significantly higher levels of motivation to manage than do their PRC counterparts. There are, however, no significant gender-based differences in levels of motivation to manage in either Hong Kong or the PRC. Lack of motivation to manage does not appear to contribute to the underutilization of Chinese women in management in Hong Kong and mainland China.