Session Information
99 ERC SES 07 G, Gender and Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Topic:
Under-representation of female doctoral students has been identified as a gender-specific injustice of higher education restricting women from academic careers (UNESCO UIS, 2017). In China, this phenomenon is the case. Female participation has exceeded 50% in both Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes since 2011, but is significantly lower in doctoral programmes. Take the latest data as an example, in 2022, female students accounted for 52.90% in Bachelor’s programmes, 52.89% in master's programmes, but only 41.91% in doctoral programmes (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2023). However, since educational choice is seen as personal, this issue is ignored and under-researched, or explained away as opt-out through a group decision preference. It is imperative to understand the actual ‘choices’ prospective female doctoral students have and how they make the decision of either pursuing or giving up doctoral studies.
Research Objectives:
The project is designed to 1) identify the choice dilemmas in the personal decision-making experience of these female students; 2) understand, in a Chinese cultural context, how they identify options available to them and make their decisions; 3) identify root causes of female students opting out of doctoral studies after considered decision-making.
Research Questions:
Research question 1: What choice dilemmas do prospective female doctoral students face when making the decision on pursuing doctoral studies?
Research question 2: When faced with choice dilemmas, how do they make their own choices or how do they delegate their autonomy of choice to others? What choice skills and relevant identification or reflection involved, respectively?
Research question 3: In the process of decision-making, how do the constituents in these dilemmas interact with cultural discourses and then limit their agency of decision-making?
Theoretical framework:
The paper uses the theoretical framework of Schwarz's cultural sociology of choice centered on culture, choice and agency. Schwarz (2018) has argued for a cultural theory of choice and decision-making as a more valid account of actual social behaviour than the interpretations and predictions offered by rational choice-inspired theory. Choices are cultural and choice processes are culture-specific ways of doing based on normativity, which rely on both cultural-specific choice techniques and culturally knowledge of the options.
Significance:
This study contributes to the understanding of choice and its process as ever-changing social phenomena and the examination of gender equality in Chinese doctoral education based on cultural sociology of choice.
Method
The paper reports on a purely qualitative study in which detailed experiences of Chinese female students in their decision-making in pursuing doctoral education are the key focus. 30 in-depth interviews with semi-open structure were conducted with prospective female students, who are either considering or in the process of applying for doctoral study. Respondents are recruited by judgement sampling mainly through two ways: 1) researcher send a recruitment request in his/her own social circle and contact some acquainted female students who are considering or applying for a doctoral programme; 2) gain some samples by introduction by these prospective students and researcher’s social circle. After sifting, finally, diverse research sample with different characteristics is established according to their life or research backgrounds such as marital status, whether they have children, and research fields. Respondents of different marital status include 10 single females, 10 females in relationships, and 10 married females, 6 of whom have children. Respondents of different research fields include 11 prospective students majoring in humanities, 11 in STEM and 8 in business. All interviews are conducted face-to-face, being recorded with well-guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality. Participants are presented with Consent Form and document that clearly stats their rights and where they could contact when feeling disturbed after interviewing. Each form of data was treated with utmost discretion and confidentiality.
Expected Outcomes
There are three main findings: 1) prospective female doctoral students significantly value doctoral studies, but they face dilemmas caused by a cultural incompatibility between pursuing doctoral studies and other choices. These include getting married and/or having children before they are in their 30s; becoming employed in order to settle down early in an intensely competitive job market; ceding financial investment to another family member whose development and/or family status takes priority; taking on childcare; keeping emotionally safe from harm from stereotypes of a female doctor; and simply acting as a ‘dutiful’ daughter. 2) This incompatibility, in nature, tells of the absence of genuine choice for females to pursue doctoral studies, which is caused by constant discouragement from cultural-specific discourses during the whole process of decision-making. Specifically, choices are constrained by culturally powerful, shared normative and epistemological horizons shaping females either to delegate to parents - and/or husband - crucial choices, or to make their own choices but consider the expectations of their family or cultural community. When options chosen are culturally right, female individuals may gain a sense of identity and morality. If not, they experience feedback that serves the culturally privileged telling them they are not making right choices and may be pushed to choose again until their choices are culturally right. 3) Choice of pursuing doctoral studies is not impossible, which is always based on a premise that those who are allowed pursuing doctoral studies are considerably expected to ‘do both’ – to finish life tasks contained in the option which is not chosen but is considered as more culturally right, during or even before the years of their doctoral studies.
References
Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (2023) Number of Students of Formal Education by Type and Level. Available at: http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_sjzl/moe_560/2022/quanguo/202401/t20240110_1099535.html (Accessed: 20 January 2024). Schwarz, O. (2018) ‘Cultures of choice: towards a sociology of choice as a cultural phenomenon’, The British Journal of Sociology, 69(3), pp. 845-864. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12305. UNESCO UIS (2017) Women are Missing from the Ranks of Higher Education and Research. Available at: https://uis.unesco.org/en/news/women-are-missing-ranks-higher-education-and-research (Accessed: 20 January 2024).
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