Breaking Barriers
Gender Equality and Educational Empowerment in Rural China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7147706 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ningning Ma (0009-0005-6840-003X, Education Policy and Analysis Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA., corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 155 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asian Women (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1225-925X • E-ISSN: 2586-5714 |
| Publisher | XMLink (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.64446/aw.2025.12.41.4.155 |
| OpenAlex | W7117781371 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
This study explores how higher education enables rural Chinese women to renegotiate gender roles, achieve economic independence, and reconstruct their self-perception within the constraints of traditional family structures.Despite national efforts to promote educational equality, deeply rooted patriarchal norms continue to shape access, expectations, and outcomes for rural female students.Employing an interview-based qualitative methodology, this research draws on in-depth interviews with four university-educated women from diverse rural regions in China.Thematic analysis reveals three interrelated patterns: a redefinition of femininity through education, a shift in familial power dynamics via economic independence, and the development of self-agency and confidence.These findings are interpreted through the lenses of Bourdieu's theory of capital and habitus, Fraser's recognition-redistribution framework, and intersectionality theory, illustrating how education functions as both a transformative and contested space.While higher education offers symbolic and material resources that empower rural women, it does not uniformly dismantle gendered expectations, which remain embedded in familial and cultural systems.This study contributes to feminist scholarship by highlighting the complex, negotiated nature of empowerment and calls for policy approaches that address both material access and cultural recognition in rural education reform
China · Empowerment · Gender equality · Rural area · Women's empowerment · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
Do Mothers in Rural China Practice Gender Equality in Educational Aspirations for Their Children?
Chinese women in society
Can education reduce traditional gender role attitudes
Gender differences in rural education in China
Family sources of educational gender inequality in rural China
From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a 'Post-Socialist' Age
On the Rural-Urban Disparity in Access to Higher Education Opportunities in China
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Mapping the Margins
Village Context, Women's Status, and Son Preference Among Rural Chinese Women
| Highly cited | No |
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