More than 14 years ago, in a city development plan, Shanghai's government pledged to put an end to discrimination against women in the workplace within five years. So, it was somewhat surprising to learn from a Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences survey last week that 21.1 percent of women respondents said that they had experienced gender discrimination at work.

According to the survey, women are paid 1,380 yuan ($220) on average less than men every month. For women in their 30s and 40s, the gap is even larger, at around 2,000 yuan. One significant take-away from the survey was that women's incomes plunged after having a child, while men's stayed the same.

Women also lag behind in their careers. The survey showed that 25.8 percent of female respondents had managerial positions, compared with 37.2 percent of male respondents.

Furthermore, nearly 75 percent of the female managers surveyed were doing basic supervisory work. Only 3.1 percent ascended to senior management positions.

It is widely believed that in Shanghai, women enjoy a higher status than women from other parts of China. Still, a few deep-rooted values continue to stand in the way of female advancement in the workplace.

For one thing, there remains intense pressure on women to marry young. We can tell that from the popular term "leftover women." Women who don't get married by the time they reach their mid 20s or early 30s get stamped with this unfortunate label. And marital status is one key factor that employers consider when recruiting. Many companies see married women as more reliable employees than single women.

The second thing is the traditional notion that a woman's place is in the home, and a man's duty is to work and support the family. Although people don't hold to this tradition as strongly as they used to, it remains true that many women tend to place less pressure on themselves when it comes to salary and career advancement. A woman has to strive hard enough to achieve whatever she aims at in her career instead of eyeing a shortcut to success. Especially after finding a dependable man, some women stop working as hard as they used to, which affects the general career outlook for women.

With these two persistent values, it's impossible to achieve an equitable career environment for women, particularly when they don't work hard to put themselves on an equal footing with men.

A more important and irreversible role that women play also makes it hard for them to maintain an edge at work - they have to ask for maternity leave and devote significantly more time to their families after they have a child.

I believe many young fathers in Shanghai are taking a more active hand with caring for their children. But enabling women to return to their careers as fast as possible - without worrying about a child at home - requires an improved social welfare system that can provide high-quality day-care services for children while they are still too young to go to school.

Of course, the mindset of young mothers could also slightly adjust from being career-oriented to more family-oriented. A woman could become less ambitious after having a child, which also impacts the general career prospects for women.

I believe that has everything to do with women's nature and each individual's choice. While the general environment could be a bit unfair to the different genders in one way or another, it is true that we should face our own choices and the subsequent consequences.