Global Education
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Do mothers in Rural China practice gender equality in educational aspirations for their children?
Zhang, Y., Kao, G., and Hannum, E. (2007). Do mothers in rural China practice gender
Summary
Mothers in rural China have a tendency to favor educational aspiration for their son over their daughters. However, when a mother has experienced high edcuational aspirations, the girls' will benefit. Mothers of boys are much more involved in their son's education which explains the gender enrollment gap.
The crux of the research is to determine if there is equal educational aspirations between the mother's of sampled boys and sampled girls in rural China. In addition, the researchers tested whether mothers' gender attitudes, their expectation of future edcuational returns, and their children's continuation of schooling are linked to educational aspirations.
The researchers believed that parental educational aspirations for their chilcdren are directly related to the family's current economic aspirations and socioeconomic status. The role of education for families living in rural China is considered a mechanism for prosperity and opportunity.
The reseachers used a multistage cluster sampling and random sampling of 2,000 children living in rural China. In their final report, only 20 children between the ages of 9 and 12 were sampled in 100 selected villages.
The main findings from the study is mothers of boys are more engaged and participatory in school activities when forming educational aspirations. Differences in maternal aspirations correlated to the gender differences in enrollment at school. Finally, girls will benefit from a mother's higher aspirations if the mother's own education is realtively high. The findings in the study are convincing and not surprising as families living in rural China know that future socioeconomic opportunities are dependent on a child's, mainly the boy's, educational opportunities.
Critique
The researchers suggest that future exploration of the relationship between a mother's attitudes, her own educational aspirations, and the child's persistence in similar among geographical regions with higher socioeconomic development. Additionally, more research is needed in gender inequality to move beyond economic status as a determining factor in enrollment discrepancies.
equality in educational aspirations for their children? Comparative Education Review, 51(2), 131-157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/512023