Study On The Gender Segregation Among Disciplines In Higher Education

Profound changes have taken place in China’s higher education since theimplementation of college expansion in1999. As the advancement of popularization ofhigher education and the raising proportion of female in college, it seems increasinglybalanced the sex ratio. But in fact, gender issues in higher education has not disappeared,and showing out the pluralistic and complexity characteristics. The gender segregationamong disciplines is one of them.This kind of gender segregation has long existed in higher education. However, thegender differentiation between science and liberal arts has not only been neglected,but even takes it for granted. Researchers have discovered, when they linked thisdifferentiation with the gender distinction in income level and occupational status aftergraduation, that it’s not simply derived from individual rational choice, but with verycomplex social factors and far-reaching impact. So, this paper will focus on the formingprocess of gender segregation among disciplines. And it is going to figure out how thediscipline is selected, how the students feel in those segregation disciplines, and whatrole the gender factor has played in this process.This thesis tends to analyze the real-life experience during selecting and attendingsection in higher education from13sophomore students, who are chosen as researchsubject from a typical technological university W. In addition, the first-hand interviewdatas will be analysed on the basic of gender theory and social theory, and combine thefeminist perspective with qualitative research method. The aim is to discuss that howcollege student choose a discipline under China’s culture, and to generalize the genderfactors which influence the gender segregation among disciplines from three aspects. Theinfluences from personal gender consciousness, the gender stereotype in discipline andthe gender discrimination in labour market are not only reveal a ’gendered’ process,butcontain a metaphor of a larger social structure, which are bound up with the male-dominated social culture.As predecessors say, personal experience and knowledge is actually derived from’we’ living in the communities and groups. At this point, I hope these limited perceptualmaterials can lead me to find out the structural problems hiding behind the developmentof discipline. In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to arouse people’sawareness of gender-sensitive consciousness, and further more, I appeal to the teachers,colleges and the whole society to pay more attention to gender issues in educationalpractice. A free and sustainable development environment depends on all of us.