"Enough Is Enough": The Choice Of Further Education Under The Double Restriction Of Rural Female Master Students

With the continuous development of higher education expansion and the further promotion of gender equality practice,more and more women have entered the door of higher education.However,many studies have shown that rural women are still a group that lack of interest in higher education,especially doctoral education opportunities even to nowadays.Rural female master students have been suspended in the rural top and urban bottom living space for a long time,what restrictions will they experience when they obtain higher education opportunities? How do rural and gender factors affect their choice of high education? The study of these problems is both scarce and extremely important.In previous studies on urban-rural and gender differences,a single dimension was always adopted,which could not reflect the true state of rural women based on the interaction of gender and urban-rural areas.While in a few comprehensive studies,research based on big data or low-educated women is hard to see in the actual picture.Based on the above discussion,this study selected nine rural female master students as the research objects.From the perspective of educational sociology,the goal is to achieve greater equity in higher education,and the urban-rural differences and gender differences are the starting points.Case study method of qualitative research is mainly used,to describe the mental journey of rural female master students in the process of schooling and selection,and to explore the restrictions imposed by the dual identity of "rural-gender" and the possible choices for them to break through the restrictions.The study found that in rural China,where the dual structure of urban and rural areas is still divided and the gender system is still unfair,the rural female master’s degree students seem to have gone out of the mountains and achieved higher academic achievements,but in fact,they still can not get rid of the double limitation of rural origin and gender.On the one hand,they are still suffering the difference of "educational experience" brought by the difference between urban and rural areas.Urban and rural differences are reflected in the "omnipresent" wall of economy,the "nowhere to hide" wall of culture and the "hidden" wall of resources,all of which distinguish their life situation with "city people’s" life situation.On the other hand,as women,they still have to face all kinds of restrictions after trying their best to get out of the mountains.The restrictions on gender are so secret,hidden in the special meaning of age,in the sepecial insight of education,and in the expectation of conflict roles.All of theses separate them from men.Under the double restrictions,they are prone to have a mentality of “just enough” to enter a higher education,after a series of complex emotional structures.The emergence of this mentality is the common result of helpless submission and rational choice,and it is the result of the external social structural factors internalized into the tendency of individual choice.What is more,the development of this mentality derived the possible consequences of "phoenix difficult flying",which is not conducive to rural women to change their weak status and realize the class transition.According to this study,four levels’ effort can help rural female master’s students stand out,which are building a strong government support system from the government level,creating a good public opinion environment from the social level,changing the traditional family education concept from the family level,and cultivating the awakening female subject consciousness from the individual level,respectively.