TRAJECTORIES OF WOMEN JOURNALISTS' CAREERS IN HONG KONG

Abstract

Gender inequalities persist in the journalism industry in Hong Kong, as female journalists are seriously under-represented in the upper echelons of news organizations. Not unlike other countries, a major reason contributing to the phenomenon is the family–work tensions experienced by many female journalists, which lead many to leave the field at different stages in their lives. This study examines this problematic through the lens of Bourdieu's field theory. Individual journalists are seen as positioned in several overlapping fields in differentiated manners. Using survey and in-depth interviews, this study not only highlights the presence of structural inequalities in journalism and the pervasiveness of family–work tensions for female journalists, but also interrogates the conditions which allow some female journalists to handle work and family simultaneously and relatively successfully. We also discuss the implications of our findings for ways to tackle the problem of gender inequalities in journalism.

Keywords:

• family–work tension
• field theory
• gender roles
• individual trajectories
• women journalists