The participation of women faculty in Chinese universities: paradoxes of globalization

Abstract

This paper contributes to a discussion of how globalization is affecting women faculty in different countries around the world. It reports on a collaborative, international research project designed to understand the participation of women faculty members in Chinese universities, sketching the historical context necessary for understanding women's place in universities in China, describing the process of surveying university faculty on gender issues and reporting the findings of the survey for universities that prepare secondary school teachers. The paper concludes that in China, ‘gender consciousness’ is a major barrier preventing women's full participation as faculty. As a result, women are likely to increase their disadvantage in the next few years as Chinese universities expand, diversify, emphasize research and broaden their links with the rest of the world.

Notes

Corresponding author. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, 252 Bloor Street West, 12th floor, room 130, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6, Canada. Email: [email protected]

Statistics on education in China are reported in annual yearbooks, but the definition of categories is not always clear and the official numbers are sometimes questionable. In this paper we use statistics from the Educational Statistics Yearbook of China (1997) the year our survey was carried out. Note that China has a higher proportion of women faculty members than North America, where only a quarter of the professoriate is female.

‘Normal’ university refers to a university that educates teachers. Normal is an old fashioned English term, used in Chinese documents and current policy discourse to translate the Chinese term for a university whose official mission is to prepare secondary school teachers.

Ruth Hayhoe calls our attention to strains of Chinese thought that associate the domination of China by imperial powers to the domination of women by men. Chinese women thus enjoyed a kind of special sympathy and understanding from their male counterparts, arising from a deep sense of frustration with the way China was suffering at the hands of the imperialist powers (email communication).

Two way choice means that both employers and employees have a choice in hiring, while under the old system, workers were allocated to employers.

For other questionnaire‐based studies of women faculty in China see Zhang (2000) and Fan (1999). Neither has data on normal universities, gender attitudes or domestic work.