A Historical Review of the Development of Women’s Higher Education in China (1908-2020): Stages, Explanations, and Trends

The development of women’s higher education in China can be divided into four stages:emergence(1908-1948);foundation(1949-1976);accelerating development(1977-2008);and the qualitative leap(2009-2020).This work considers the principal institutional mechanisms that contributed to this development.First,flexibly planned parenthood gradually promoted gender equality and openness in society facilitated by systematic“awards,grants,and loans”initiatives to support women’s higher education economically.Second,compulsory education ensured that left-out and migrant children had access to higher education.Third,effective connectivity across different education types bridged education gaps between those with different levels of education.Fourth,China made great efforts to invite and integrate international experiences that promoted the development of women’s higher education.Looking beyond these achievements,we also discuss the future trends of women’s higher education in China.

Early Era Republic Term （1923-1938）： A Look Into the Education of Women in Turkish Novel

In this work, the reflection of the education of women from the social problems in the early republic era when the novel genre was developed will be examined. In the study, in specific early republic era which covers the years 1923-1938, the theme of the education of women in Turkish novel, in general, the reflections of the look into the education of women by the Republic Era Turkey on literature of the era have been studied. The attitude in the novels which criticizes the educational institutes through the educational issues also shows similarities with the look of republic ideology into education. While the mentioned educational institutes of early republic are being systemized, the negative sides of existing educational institutes have been examined. The problems such as the duality in education, the education of the girls, modern, and neighborhood school＇s education together have been studied as subheadings. The goal of the study is to determine the insufficiency of the educational institutes which has become a social problem in Turkish novel with respect to the term novels. Within this respect, while the introduction part describes the conditions of the era on education, the part which constitutes the basic of the work, the education problem in the novels dealing with the education of women has been expressed with novel heroes.

Korean New Women： Korean New Women＇s Fluctuation in International and Korean Contexts

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ＂New Woman＂ was an international phenomenon. Although various national contexts contributed many different shades of meaning to the concept of ＂New Woman＂ in each country, New Women across the world shared common ground. In the 1920s, when American New Women experimented with their new identity, New Women in Korea also discovered a new sense of selfhood and confidence to make inroads into public spheres. Under Japan＇s colonial rule （1910-1945）, Korean women, valued as a national hidden reservoir, gained access to education and made attempts to remove traditional constraints. Despite different situations surrounding Korean and American New Women, their recognition, pursuit, and places in history echoed one another＇s. The bold and innovative nature of Korean New Women has attracted much academic as well as public attention. Most of the rich body of scholarship on this topic focuses on famous figures whose flamboyant defiance met a tragic end or on the sacrifices and failures of New Women＇s pursuit in confronting nationalism. The nation is an important and useful framework in history, but additional factors should be considered for a better understanding of New Women. Not only does this paper consider national context, it also pays much needed attention to an international connection in women＇s history.

The Rise of Women’s Education and the Modernity of East Asia:Focusing on the Education of“Virtuous Wives and Worthy Mothers”in China and Japan

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.Looking back on the past and forward to the future,we realize modernity has become a critical issue that not only China and Japan,but the whole East Asian region should pay attention to.China and Japan are both within the“Circle of Confucius Culture”and are both modern latecomer countries.As they were coerced by western countries to enter the modern age,they shared multiple common features.An exploration of the two countries’respective rising of modern women’s education is an important path to discuss the reconstruction of gender and an important method of the course of the embodiment of east-Asian women into modernization drives.With regards to conclusion,entering the modern age,Chinese and Japanese intellectuals reshaped the female gender in terms of interpersonal relationship,value system,and knowledge structure by advocating the idea of“virtuous wives and worthy mothers”education.In the concept of virtuous wives and worthy mothers in East Asia,the Confucian ethics of“docility and virtue”is the soul,and modern scientific knowledge serves this core value.On the other hand,in the course of localization in China and Japan,this imported concept from the West has encountered a completely different historical fate.

Women and the Transnational Dynamics of Science Education in Early Twentieth Century China:A Quiet Revolution

This article explores both the personal and transnational dimensions of domestic science education and study abroad for the pioneering generation of Chinese women in science.By focusing on women’s unique calculus of risk and reward,the article not only distinguishes Chinese women’s experiences from those of their male counterparts but also delineates the special contours of the Chinese case within the global advancement of women in science.The article begins by outlining some of the features and dynamics of early Chinese girls’schools that affected students’interest in and preparation for further scientific study.Then it traces the emerging college-level opportunities that made it possible for women who were studying science in China to contemplate advanced work overseas.Turning to study abroad,the article highlights the radicalness of the decision to study abroad by examining the impact of both family background and national circumstances on Chinese women’s strategies of mobility.The article argues that if we are to take women’s experiences seriously,we cannot just look at scientific pursuits in terms of achievements in the development of Chinese science,we also need to consider the ways that·scientific ambitions forced individuals—both male and female—to navigate and reimagine multiple social norms and expectations.

How did women’s education and differential family planning policies shape transition to second and third births in historical China? New evidence from micro data

The influence of China’s family planning policies on fertility transition is widely acknowledged in research studies.However,little is known about how improve-ments in women’s education have shaped reproductive decisions of Chinese women across different family planning regimes,particularly at micro level.This study uses retrospective pooled birth history data from five consecutive population and fam-ily planning surveys collected over the period 1982-2006 to systematically examine the interrelationship between family planning policies and women’s education,and their interactive effect on the second and third birth transitions.We hypothesize that family planning policies had a differential influence on educational groups in reduc-ing the transition to second and third births.The results from discrete time com-plementary log-log survival models provide strong evidence of differential repro-ductive behavior of education groups across time in China,and the simultaneous influence of women’s education and family planning policies in lowering risks to higher parities.The rates of progression to second and third births tend to be lower after the introduction of rigid family planning policies,and more importantly,the policy impact persisted even after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors.The increase in women’s education overall had a depressing effect on transi-tion to higher parities,and family planning policies implemented overtime have had differential effects on women from different educational groups.The findings show that both family planning policies and women’s education have been instrumental in shaping fertility behavior in China.

Women In Higher Education——Half a Century

ZHOU Enru is a law professor at Chinese Women’s College. In 1978, she took part in the school’s reopening and renovation and then in 1995, she began collecting and compiling the school’s history.

The Development of Women's Education in China

Ⅰ THE long-standing Chinese traditionalculture embodies numerous excellencieswhich have survived the test of time andbeen carried on generation by generation.However, there is no need for reticence inobserving that some obsolete elements have alsosurvived which fetter people’s mind and hindersocial progress. For a long time, distorted gendervalues such as "Man is superior to woman","Three-obedience and four virtues" and"Husband sets the guide for wife", hadcontributed to the weakness and inferioritycomplex in local women’s mentality. Not untilthe democratic movement of contemporaryChina was the progress of women’s liberationwitnessed. The values fettering women’s mindswere shaken and the spiritual shackles shattered.Women’s roles in China’s social developmenthave become prominent.

Women's Higher Education in China

AT the Huairou NGO Forum on Women, participants in the Workshop on Women’s Higher Education in China were inspired by Chinese speakers to give voice to their own ideas. The line for speaking grew so long as to require Qi Wenying, Workshop Chairwoman and Professor from Beijing University, to announce a new time limit of

Opportunities and Barriers:Gendered Reality in Chinese Higher Education

In the field of Chinese higher education,gender is still a significant issue,as is a general ignorance of gender discrimination against women.Issues related to gender can be observed throughout the process of education:at the time of entering an institution,during the educational process and as an outcome of education.The following seven aspects of sexual discrimination occur in Chinese higher education system:(1)Fewer opportunities for women in higher education than for men;(2)within disciplines and specializations there exists the phenomena of gender segregation and diffluence;(3)considerable gender difference exists in the distribution of school resources;(4)teaching materials and teaching content are gender discriminatory;(5)within higher education institutions,student organizations have a degree of gender imbalance;(6)campus culture has a hidden agenda of gender discrimination;and(7)employment prospects for women tend to be unequal and discriminatory.

Reflections on A Persian Jewel:Damavand College,Tehran

This paper describes the author’s reflections on a personal and professional experience he had 35 years ago in Iran as President of Damavand College,Tehran,Iran from 1975-1978 to lead this young liberal arts college for Iranian women.The author decided to reflect on its mission(it had had a religious heritage),what he had hoped to accomplish,its possible role in the women’s movement and Islamic Reformist Movement,what had happened to its graduates,its teachers,and its friends and supporters.As he reflected on their achievements,he realized that their growth and advancement served as metaphors for his own personal and professional growth into an intercultural person.Because of that experience in Iran,he has dared subsequently to live in other countries and do research and teach in different cultures.He realized that Damavand,named for the highest mountain in Iran,was a symbol of reaching higher heights.Damavand College now had become a living symbol of what had developed as his research agenda in intercultural communication,leading him to years ago in Iran.He recently began his journey back in time.