How Women and Girls Fare in Education: The Case of China

• In Event: Equitable Education for Women and Girls: Global Challenges 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 real-life cases, the study reveals 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 systematically reviews secondary data (existing literature, documents, case study reports, successful models, and national policies) with the hope to indicate what works and what does not in the case of China on its way to gender parity in education.
In 1949, the female illiteracy rate was about 90% in China while 99.9% school-age girls attend schools in 2020 (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 Zhang (Cao & Li, 2021), a teacher, educated and enabled 1804 rural girls to go onto college. These rural girls would not have had chances of education otherwise. Reports also claim that national policies and projects to support girls’ education in western and remote regions, support for 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, which 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).

Authors

• Guofang Wan, Loyola University Chicago

• Cui Bo, Taiyuan University of Technology

• Melissa Cheng, Loyola University Chicago