Education Inequality for Girls in China: Identifying Issues and Solutions of Gender Inequality

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The purpose of the paper is to examine issues and to identify solutions of gender inequality for girls in education in China. According to Ridgeway (2011), gender inequality is regarded as an affair which the majority members of one sex is advantaged than the majority members of the other sex. Based on the societal expectations, men play more dominant and assertive roles in the society than women (Egbo, 2009). The dominant position of men reveals in education, health, employment, and pay (Klasen & Lamanna, 2009). The fact in gender inequality exists throughout the world (Dorius & Firebaugh, 2010). In terms of education, boys are more active than girls in class, and teachers tend to give certain tasks to boys because of the different expectations from boys and girls (Egbo, 2009). Compared to boys, girls have less family support and sources than boys (Hannum, Kong, & Zhang, 2009).
In China, gender inequality for girls in education come from various aspects. Three stakeholders (the society, families, and schools) affect each other as a whole. The society is impacted by Confucian philosophy, which believed a strong hierarchy that women were subordinate of men (Bauer, Feng, Riley, & Xiaohua, 1992). The belief has influenced the society for decades, although the issues of gender inequality are reducing gradually compared to the past three decades because of new policies and laws (Zhang, Pang, Zhang, Medina, & Rozelle, 2013). As an essential part of society, schools are affected by the social concepts and it is the reason that educators and school administrators have different expectations for girls in schools. Parents, as they were educated in a way which does not address much awareness of the issues of gender inequality, do not realiz...

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...o promote 21st century skills and global perspectives. Education Research and Perspectives, 40, 86-108.
United Nations, Millennium. (n.d.). Taking action: Achieving gender equality and empowering women. Retrieved from http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/Gender-chapters1-3.pdf
Wu, X. (2010). Economic transition, school expansion and educational inequality in China, 1990-2000. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 28, 91-108.
Zuo, X., Lou, C., Gao, E., Cheng, Y., Niu, H., & Zabin, L. S. (2012).Gender differences in adolescent premarital sexual permissiveness in three Asian cities: Effects of gender-role activities. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50, S18-S25.
Zhang, J., Pang, X., Zhang, L., Medina, A., Rozelle, S. (2013). Gender inequality in education in China: A meta-regression analysis. Contemporary Economic Policy, 1-18. doi: 10.1111/coep.12006

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