Save the Boys: Research on Boys’ Disadvantages in Access to Higher Education

• In Event: College Access Policy on the Disadvantaged in China: Perspectives of Different Groups

Abstract

TENG Jun
Associate Professor, Beijing Normal University

1. Context and Objectives
The boy crisis has become a common topic of great concern around the world. Many international surveys show that girls' academic achievement is significantly higher than boys in basic education. Such gender disparities directly affect boys’ access to colleges. The proportion of boys in universities is about 45% or even less in many European countries, such as Sweden, France (UIS, 2011).

In fact, China is also experiencing a similar problem. In 2012, many universities announced lower scores for boys to be admitted to some special programs, bringing a national-wide debate on gender considerations in college access policy. This research aims at identifying to what extent boys are in the disadvantages on access to higher education, trying to explore the possible reasons and discussing whether it is necessary to put gender considerations into the college access policy.

2. Conceptual Framework
This research adopts Gender Role Conflict (GRC) theory proposed by O'Neil, J. M., Good, G. E., & Holmes, S. in 1995 as the conceptual framework, to explore why the Chinese boys are in the disadvantages on access to higher education from the perspectives of cognition, family and society.

3. Methods and Data Sources
Both official data analysis and interview are used to collect and analyze the research data. First, the longitude data on the college female and male enrollment ratio is collected from the Chinese Statistic Yearbook from 2000 to 2012, and the number of male and female students from the websites of several leading universities in China, to identify to what extent boys are in the disadvantages on access to higher education. And then representatives from male students, parents, teachers, researches and college policy makers will be interviewed to explore the possible reasons and their views on gender considerations in the college access policy.

4. Research Findings
The findings show that Chinese boys are now facing the growing disadvantages on access to higher education, which is more prominent in the “Project 985” and “Project 211” institutions. The enrollment ratio of female students in colleges increased from 23.4% in 1980 to 51.14% in 2011, and the percentage of the male top 1 students in each province drops from 60% in 2000 to 49.38% in 2012. The main reason is that male's unique cognitive style conflicts with some features of National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), such as more emphasis on students’ achievements in memorizing facts than analysis and reasoning capacity development.

5. Significance of the Study
The boys’ disadvantages in national college entrance examination is not only an issue related to boys’ own future, but also affecting the social development. With longitude official data evidences, the study makes a significant contribution to the public awareness of boys’ crisis, provides a deeper understanding on why boys are left behind in Chinese national college entrance examination and calls for the urgent needs to put gender considerations in the college student access policy.

Author

• Jun Teng, Beijing Normal University