Chinese Women's Education at Historical Starting Point

The Beijing Declaration, adopted during the Fourth World Conference on Women (hosted by the United Nations in Beijing in September 1995), urged that women's education "promote people-centered sustainable development, including sustainable economic growth, through the provision of basic education, lifelong education, literacy and training, and primary healthcare for girls and women." Over the past two decades, China has made significant progress in achieving the goals, in women's education, which were outlined in the Platform for Action and the National Program for Women's Development.

Significant Improvements

The Ningxia Women's Federation and Ningxia Statistics Bureau jointly released data, contained in the Third Survey on Chinese Women's Social Status, in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on December 25, 2012. The data indicated that the region's women aged 18 to 64 had received an average education of 8.9 years, which was higher than the national average of 8.8 years. The data also indicated that 21 percent of the women had received primary school education, 27.3 percent had received junior high school education, and 11.3 percent had received junior college (or better) education. Further, the data indicated 8.6 percent of the women aged 18 and 64 had obtained a degree through continuing education.

During the past three years, 20.5 percent of the region's women have participated in some form of training. Indicators suggest, in general, women's education has improved in the region.

In 2011, the State Council, the Chinese Government's cabinet, issued the National Program for Women's Development (2011-2020), which was the third of its kind in China. Its predecessors were the National Program for Women's Development (1995-2000) and the National Program for Women's Development (2001-2010).

Last year, to assess the implementation of the program, and to better protect women's rights and interests, based on data collected by relevant departments, China's National Bureau of Statistics reviewed the implementation of the program (during the previous year) in the seven fields that related to women: Health, education, the economy, policymaking and management, social security, the environment and the law.

Data related to women and education indicated, in 2013, some 38.947 million young children were receiving preschool education (either kindergarten or preschool classes) across China. That was an increase of 9.18 million from 2010. Among those children, 17.982 million were girls, an increase of 4.45 million from 2010. Also, girls accounted for 46.2 percent — up 0.8 percent — of all preschool children.

Also that year, the net rate of enrollment of girls in primary schools reached 99.72 percent, 0.02 percentage point higher than that of boys. In terms of compulsory education (primary and junior high school education), female students accounted for 46.48 percent, similar to the percentage in the previous year.

In recent years, the literacy rate among the population aged 15 or older has continued to improve. In 2013, some 4.6 percent of Chinese aged 15 or older was considered illiterate, down 0.36 percentage point from the previous year. The rate among women was 6.73 percent, down 0.59 percentage point from the year before. In terms of the gender gap, the rate of illiteracy of women was 4.2 percentage points higher than that of men in 2013, compared with the 4.65 percentage points the previous year.

Coinciding with the deepening reform of the economic system in rural China, rural women have been playing an increasingly important role in the construction of a new countryside, and their education has been catching the attention of almost everyone in society.

Agricultural skills training can improve rural women's abilities in culture, science and technology, and can help them gain access to job opportunities and raise their incomes.

As of 2010, some 3.55 million rural women, across the country, had participated in green-certification training, and they accounted for 40 percent of the participants. Data indicates 99.6821 million rural women participated in practical skills training, and they accounted for 46.6 percent of the total participants between 2006-2010.

Women Outnumber Men

According to statistics issued by China's Ministry of Education in 2014, female students outnumbered men in junior college and undergraduate programs for the first time in 2009. That gap has widened; in 2010, Chinese universities, combined, accepted 330,000 more women than men.

Traditionally, more men than women attended agricultural and forestry universities in China. However, data released by the admissions office of China Agricultural University indicated, since 2002, the proportion of female students at the university rose 1-2 percent per year, and, in 2011, new female students accounted for 57.34 percent of the school's new students. Data released by Beijing Forestry University indicated, since 2008, female students have accounted for more than 60 percent of the school's students. In 2012, the ratio of female to male students was 7-3. In addition, the number of female students in science and engineering disciplines has increased each year.

The disappearance of "male only" classes and the appearance of "female only" classes are results of female students outnumbering male students.

In the past, female students dominated a few disciplines, such as economic management and foreign languages. Now, the number of female students in science and engineering disciplines, such as automation, information engineering and electrical engineering, is increasing each year. In machinery disciplines, the number of female students equals that of men.

In some disciplines, such as languages and broadcasting, female students overwhelmingly dominate each class, while there are one or two male students in each class. By contrast, more female students are studying some formerly "male-only" disciplines.

Weapon Systems and Launch Engineering are good examples. In the past, women did not apply for enrollment in such programs. In 2012, women accounted for 14.29 percent of the students in the disciplines.

Findings of the survey (to assess implementation of the program) indicate the gap between male and female students at the senior high school level continues to narrow, and the proportion of female university students continues to increase. Statistics reveal, in 2013, there were 20.90 million female senior high school students, for 47.8 percent of the total. That was up 0.7 percent from 2010. In 2013, there were 878,000 female graduate students in universities, for 49 percent of the total. That was up 1.1 percent from 2010. Meanwhile, there were 12.77 million female junior college and university students, for 51.7 percent of the total. That was up almost 0.9 percent. The enrollment rate of universities reached 34.5 percent, up 8 percentage points. That indicates there will be more female university students in the future.

Science, Technology Require More Senior Female Talents

In 2011, the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) urged that a study regarding the measures used to spur the advancement of talented, high-level females be included as a key component of the philosophy and social sciences studies administered by the Ministry of Education.

In the same year, ACWF and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued guidelines on enhancing the fostering of young female talents in science and technology.

The number of women sponsored by the Young Scientist Foundation (under the National Natural Science Foundation of China) has increased 10 percent since 2010. The number of women winners of the 12th Science and Technology Awards for Chinese Youth (2011) increased 18 percent compared with previous years.

Song Xiuyan, Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, noted the Young Scientist Foundation lowered the age threshold, from 35 to 40, for female applicants. She also explained the Science and Technology Awards for Chinese Youth lowered the age threshold, from 40 to 45 years, for female candidates. As a result, there has been an increase in the number of women who have received financial aid from the foundation, and an increase in the number of women who have received awards.

In recent years, greater attention has been paid to the fostering of highly talented women in science and technology. As a result of pregnancy, breastfeeding and raising children, women are experiencing about a five-year career gap compared with their male counterparts. Given that women retire five years earlier than men, a woman's career span is generally 10 years shorter than a man's. A talented woman in the field of either science or technology is expected to experience her peak work years between the ages of 40 and 45. Therefore, lowering the age threshold of the foundation, and gradually diminishing the impacts that result from traditional concepts and policies, will help foster highly talented women.

Cheng Donghong, Vice-President of the China Association for Science and Technology, said the polices have supported women, especially in the fields of science and technology, who wanted to return to work after they gave birth.

The 11th China Female Scientist Awards were announced in Beijing on January 16, 2015. Ten young female workers, in the fields of science and technology, including Chen Chunying, a researcher with the National Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NCNST), stood out among the 183 candidates from 111 organizations. Chen won an award.

The China Female Scientist Awards were established by the ACWF, the China Association for Science and Technology, the China National Commission for UNESCO and L'Oreal China in 2004, to recognize 10 excellent Chinese female scientists, under the age of 45, who made outstanding achievements in basic and life sciences. Over the past 11 years, 96 women from China's 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, as well as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, have received awards. Organizers intended for the awards to be a source of encouragement to talented women who are committed to science and technology.

There are more than 20 million women working in the fields of science and technology in China. While they are making up a significant proportion of China's human resources in the fields of science and technology, they are performing all types of jobs, such as studying basic theories, developing applied technologies and advancing science and technology. Women in China play an important role in advancing the innovation of science and technology, and in the development of high and new technologies. The number and proportion of women talents in science and technology, especially senior talents, is an indicator of the increasing status of Chinese women.

However, some significant problems remain, especially regarding the development of female talents in the fields of science and technology. Most prominently, there is only a handful of top-level female talents in science and technology in China, and they account for a small percentage of the total number. There is an obvious "five percent" phenomenon; for example, women account for a mere 5.6 percent of members with both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Wang Zhizhen, former Vice-President of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says although women account for 40 percent of China's human resources in the fields of science and technology, which ranks China among the top nations in that category, women make up a mere five percent of the top-level talents in the fields. "We conducted a survey and found that the higher the level, the fewer the female scientists, like a pyramid," said Wang.

The glass ceiling that has faced female scientists has been noticeable for a long time. Since the end of the 1990s, though, an increasing number of women, globally, have joined the field of science. Yet, women still account for less than one-third of the workers involved in science research. Women account for a meager 3.5 percent of Nobel laureates.

According to a report on women in science and research, by Boston Consulting Group (at the request of L'oreal), "stereotypes and bias" are the main obstacles facing women when they choose a career in science. Young women, their parents, teachers and even society believe in some stereotypes, which prevent women from working in science, the report indicated. The most troubling stereotype is that "men are better at scientific research than women," even though there is no evidence to support the idea.

All in all, education is important to every Chinese family, and to the growth and development of all Chinese people, including women. Education is the basis of a country's future. In China, education is a top strategic development priority, and the Chinese Government has attached great importance to women's education. Even though China still faces some problems in women's education, it can be said that Chinese women's education is at a new historical starting point.

(Source: Women of China English Monthly February 2015 Issue)