These facts were revealed in a Jiao Tong University survey, which was released at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai International Seminar on Women's Entrepreneurial Development yesterday.

Hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Women & Children Committee, the two-day seminar -- with some 100 participants from seven countries and global women's organizations -- will discuss local women's employment and development.

Organizers said suggestions will be given to the city government for a more lenient policy to support women entrepreneurs and push the government to acutely consider gender problems in policymaking.

"To improve the gender equality, policymakers should have higher gender perceptions when making decisions. Meanwhile, women should also spend more time and energy to gain education, no matter how old they are," Vice Mayor Yan Junqi told the meeting.

Yu Yaping, a professor at Jiao Tong, gave details about the latest survey, based on 2,351 questionnaires.

According to the survey, the number of women working in the fields of education, health care, retail and community service has exceeded half of the total. Meanwhile, in professional careers like finance and insurance, real estate and scientific research, the proportion of women staff has reached 45, 36 and 35 percent respectively.

However, the average employment rate for local women, aged between 18 and 64 years, is only 62.2 percent, nearly 25 percent lower than the national level.

Experts attributed the low percentage to lack of education and skills among some women, as well as fierce competition from an annual 1.6 million migrant females.

"I suggest the government take more effective measures, such as drafting laws to prevent gender discrimination, and set up a flexible working system for women," Yu said.

(eastday.com November 12, 2002)