Study On The Reasons For Feminization Of Higher Education In China

In 2009,the amount of female students in China's universities exceeded the amount of male.This new phenomenon was called "Feminization of Higher Education".In the late1960 s,it started in Europe and America and then spread to the world.This study which is based on comprehensive research methods begins with international comparison in the background of modernization.This study explores the laws,the reasons,the trends,the value and the challenges of the feminization of higher education in the framework of structural interaction.At last,it puts forward some potential countermeasures.The main contents and findings of this study are:(1)This study presents the changing laws,different forms and developing trends about feminization of higher education worldwide.It found that the phenomenon began in Europe and America in the late 1960 s and then spread around the world.Middle-income and mass higher education are the basic premise of its occurrence.Priori countries such as US peaked around 2010 and showed a trend of convergence.New countries such as China present a trend of continuing development.The countries where the feminization not happened yet include South Asia,the Middle East and sub-saharan Africa.In which,Japan,South Korea and Germany are exceptions.The phenomenon in China is reasonable.(2)This study presents the changing laws,different forms and future trends about feminization of higher education in China.It found that the phenomenon began in Xinjiang in 1998,then in Shanghai,Tianjin,and Beijing,and then gradually spread to the whole country.This study estimates that China may enter the popularization stage of higher education by 2020,there may be up to 40 million students in the universities,the number of girls in may exceed boys around 2?4 million.By 2030,the gross enrollment ratio of China's higher education may reach around 65%,students may reach 50 million,girls may outnumber boys in 6?10 million and then into satble gender structure.At that time,the biggest amount of new gender gap in universities worldwide may appear in China.(3)This study analyzes the macroscopic mechanism of feminization of higher education.Two panel regression models was built in the data separately of 62 major countries from 1999 to 2014 and of 31 provinces in China from 1997 to 2010.Through quantitative analysis,it found that the regression results have more influence on women's higher education opportunities than men,which partly explains the reason why it happened,that is,social progress contributes to the occurrence and development of feminization of higher education.An independent variable "Birth Rate" significantly promote the growth of women's higher education opportunities,but influences more in men.To a certain extent,the number of men in China is far higher than women,which is a comprehensive consequence of boys' preference and birth sex selection.This result could expand the theoretical value of one-child-policy in the research on educational equality by gender perspective.(4)This study analyses the reasons of feminization of education worldwide.It found that modern school has eliminated gender differences and protected women's abilities.On this basis,feminization of higher education which is an important result of modernization came along with the global movement,adjustment of market and life style,and popularization of higher education.The younger generation is more open and active.Multivariate self-identity cause the affinity-disaffinity relationship between male and female students and school,resulting in a historic phenomenon called "Transfer" in the popularization stage.Men may pursuit choices which are faster and better from school to market.That promote women's opportunities in higher education.In addition,the differences of economy,ideology,cultural tradition,national system,and education result in different performances of feminization of higher education in different countries.(5)This study analyses the reasons of feminization of education in China.It found that feminization of higher education in China came along with modernization as well.The founding of the socialist country,the resumption of the college entrance examination,the reform and opening up policy,and the enrollment expansion of universities provide comprehensive positive impact on women's participation in higher education.The process which began in Xinjiang,followed by eastern developed areas,and then spread to the whole country,reflects typical differeces in defferent provinces in economy,culture,education,and population characteristics.In the urban-rural dual structure,rural girl's position is obviously weaker especially in central and western regions.At the same time,the self-identity and selection logic about education has changed significantly in different generations.This remarkable change explains the reason of feminization of higher education in China by the perspective of individual interaction.(6)This study explores the opportunities and challenges which feminization of education may bring in China and put forward some potential countermeasures.It found that the trend of returning back to humanistic education has been appeared since 2015 worldwide.Women's "Care" may contribute to the new trend.That is an important opportunitiy for China's society brought by feminization of higher education.Challenges lie in lackness of social cognition,universities' not ready,gender structure contradiction in labor market,and increasing unblance of marriage match.Potential countermeasures including promoting gender mainstreaming by gender education,improving service in school,promoting more policies about gender equality,building multivariate evaluation system,reducing gender discrimination in labour market,and using "Dual System" as reference to ease the peak of feminazation of higher education.The main innovations of this study are:(1)This study which put feminization of higher education in China into international comparison and modernity process presents changing laws and different forms of feminization of higher education,and then predicts the developing trends.(2)This study combines macroscopic quantitative research and micro-individual selection research to supply each other for explaning the reasons comprehensively.(3)This study puts forward relevant theory called "Transfer" by exploring the internal logic of mass higher education.(4)This study expands the theoretical value of the “One-Child-Policy” in the study of educational equality by gender perspective.(5)This study predicts the global peak of feminization of higher education in China.And then prejudges the opportunities and challenges of feminization of higher education,and proposes potential countermeasures.The shortcomings which need to be further studied are:(1)This study does not take students' international mobility into account.(2)This study does not analyse comparatively the differences of exezamination systems in different countries.(3)The research on typical areas such as Xinjiang province is not comprehensive or deep enough.(4)This study does not divide the hierarchies of universities such as Double-Tops,Single-Tops and ordinary universities.