The female advantage in education has long evolved into a global trend. Since the close of the 20th century, numerous European countries have observed a prevalent phenomenon where male students exhibit academic underperformance compared to their female counterparts. To tackle this issue, some countries initiated a series of reform measures as early as the onset of the 21st century. These measures encompass conducting specialized investigations, launching programs aimed at enhancing male students' academic achievements, establishing exemplary schools for male education, and providing financial support for relevant research. In the United States, a strategy that higher-education administrators can adopt to mitigate the escalating gender imbalance in enrollment is to explicitly favor male applicants during the admission process, a practice referred to as "boys' affirmative action".

Over the past decade or so, the discourse regarding whether it is about "protecting girls' rights" or "saving boys' development" has persisted in the academic and social spheres of China. Concepts and viewpoints such as the "boy crisis", "saving boys", "gender reversal", "female advantage", "male academic vulnerability", and "female dominance over males" have emerged, triggering a A wave of research has emerged in the academic community. Nevertheless, the viewpoints of support and opposition are evenly balanced. According to the annual statistics issued by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the proportion of female students enrolling in regular undergraduate programs reached as high as 63% in 2022. However, the Chinese government has not yet made a response in the realm of educational policies.

Gender equality in education is of crucial significance for attaining high-quality and sustainable global economic and social development. The question that this study intends to address is: In comparison with international trends, how has the gender ratio of student enrollment from primary school to university in China changed since the reform and opening-up? How did the reversal of gender roles take place? What is the current state? What achievements have been accomplished in educational gender equality? What remaining issues exist? How should public policies respond? What implications does it have for the global cause of educational gender equality?

The basic framework of this study is composed of three parts. Firstly, it presents the process and general pattern of the gender ratio of students entering form primary school to university in China from 1984 to 2023. Secondly, it briefly analyzes the reasons for the significant disparities in educational opportunities and academic performance between males and females in primary, secondary, and higher education over the past 40 years. Finally, combined with the social gender theory, which emerged in the second half of the 20th century, explores potential solutions from the perspective of educational reform.

Theoretically, this study posits that regardless of gender, as long as individuals are in a structurally disadvantaged position within the educational system constructed by specific social cultures, it should be firmly opposed. Only by transcending the debate of "protecting girls" or "saving boys" and establishing a school-education system that attains gender balance and fully integrates the excellent qualities of both genders, enabling male and female students to construct their own social genders and obtain equitable development opportunities based on their own characteristics and truly leverage their respective advantages, can we genuinely achieve harmonious and win - win outcomes for the entire society.

This study compiled ten categories of fundamental data. To delineate the 40 - year evolution of gender ratios in school enrollment from primary education to university matriculation, emphasis was placed on the enrollment trends at three crucial stages: primary school, general high school, and undergraduate/junior college education. Correspondingly, six datasets were collected, including the total primary school enrollments, female primary school enrollments, total general high school enrollments, female general high school enrollments, total university enrollments, and female university enrollments. Beyond examining In addition to examining access to educational opportunities, this research also focused on the educational process, as represented by academic performance, and educational outcomes, as represented by graduation status. To evaluate the impact of the high-school entrance examination and the national college entrance examination on the gender ratio of student enrollment, four additional datasets were included in the statistical scope: the total number of junior high school graduates, the number of female junior high school graduates, the total number of general high school graduates, and the number of female general high school graduates. Furthermore, to facilitate long-term longitudinal tracking, data on the sex ratio at birth from 1978 to 2017 were collected. These data sources mainly consisted of publicly accessible educational statistics from the official website of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, supplemented by selected authoritative publications. Based on the above nationwide public administrative data, this study carried out a comprehensive factual description and long-term tracking analysis of the gender ratio of school enrollment from primary school to university in China from 1984 to 2023. The specific approach is as follows: first, the ratios of female students enrolling at different educational stages were transformed. Then, descriptive statistical methods were utilized to compare the different ratios in various forms such as composite line graphs. Finally, two models were employed to depict the evolution of the gender ratio of students over. Forty years. The first model places emphasis on the "cross-sectional" aspect, depicting the gender ratio corresponding to each calendar year. The second model highlights the "tracking" feature, presenting the gender ratio of students at each educational level across multiple years in different educational stages.

China has achieved remarkable progress in the domain of educational gender equality. The equal right to education for female students has been effectively safeguarded. In contrast, male students may encounter more pronounced dropout issues in compulsory education and general high-school education. Since the 1990s, females have demonstrated increasingly significant advantages in accessing educational opportunities and academic performance at primary, secondary, and tertiary educational levels. These advantages are observable from the moment of primary school enrollment, accumulate and expand as the educational stage advances, and persist until the university level. The substantial changes in the gender ratio of enrollment primarily occur at two critical junctures: the high-school entrance examination and the college entrance examination. The college entrance examination exerts a greater influence on the proportion of female students. For Chinese female students in the 21st century, as they progress through different educational stages, their enrollment rates rise and academic performance improves. Over the past three decades, it has been objectively evident that male students have lagged behind their female counterparts in terms of educational access. The phenomenon of gender differences in educational attainment and academic performance is the outcome of the interplay of multiple factors including education, economy, and society. Notably, the advantages of female students in the above two examination competitions merit particular attention. In the context of the Chinese situation, to attain a higher-quality educational gender equality globally and effectively tackle the issue of disadvantaged male students, from the perspective of educational policies, it is proposed that different countries and regions should expedite the establishment of a comprehensive, practical, and highly selective basic education curriculum system. They should actively promote the reform of the high-school entrance examination and national college entrance examination centered around core competencies and encourage the deferred enrollment of late-maturing male students.

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