Women and Girls' Education: The Case of China

• In Event: Gender Equity in Education: A Global Challenge and Local Solutions

Abstract

This study starts with a brief historical overview of the progress towards gender equity in education in China. It traces the status of women and girls under various Chinese social and economic systems from the traditional feudalism, semi-feudal and semi-colonial society, to socialist and the 21st century modern society. Through reviews of existing data, the study will reveal efforts from various walks of life, national education policies and social cultural and political factors that hinder or advance gender equity in education in China. The research will systematically review the existing literature and analyze the educational policies with the hope to indicate what works and what does not in China’s efforts for gender parity in education. A case study is conducted in China on one girl’s high school which has empowered thousands of village girls to move from remote mountain regions onto the world stage.
In 1949, the female illiteracy rate was about 90% in China while in 2020, 99.9% of school-age girls attend schools (He, 2020; UNESCO, 2020). Huaping Girl’s High School is an exemplary case. Since 2008, Huaping Girls' High School, China's first tuition-free high school founded by a teacher (Cao & Li, 2021), educated and enabled 1804 rural girls to go onto college. These rural girls would not have had any chance of higher education otherwise. Reports also claim that national policies and projects that support girls’ education in western and remote regions, and projects that support migrant children and children with disabilities, have advanced the education for females in China (Yuan, 2015).
According to Nguyen, et al. (2020) China is one of the countries among the 150 countries reviewed by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report (2006–2017) that have demonstrated dramatic changes in gender equity. However, despite major economic growth and new policies to address gender inequities, China saw a significant decline in Global Gender Index (Nguyen, et al., 2020; Hausmann & Tyson, 2017) between 2010 and 2017. This largely resulted from “decreased gender equity in educational attainment, economic participation, and health/survival sub-indices” (Nguyen, et al., 2020. p.1). Although tremendous progress has been made towards gender parity in education over the past 100 years, China still has a long way to go. Gaps exist in many areas including rural and urban education in both quality and availability (Seeberg, 2014). Taking the perspectives of critical theory and social justice, the researcher aims to describe the current development of gender parity in education in China and encourage Chinese people to take actions and move towards equal education opportunities for all.

Authors

• Cui Bo, Taiyuan University of Technology
  Presenting Author

• Guofang Wan, Loyola University Chicago
  Presenting Author