Chapter 3: Missing Girls in Schools: Gender Inequality and Educational Disparities in Rural China

Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the status and quality of life for women and girls have greatly improved. Despite these improvements; however, cultural values and norms concerning gender roles and traditional family structures still influence the values attached to boys and girls, and thus create strong incentives for boy-child preference, especially in rural areas (J. Li & Lavely, 2003). This chapter reveals the clash between the traditional values and roles of women and the school culture and expectations. Moreover, it explores the challenges and current issues in educating girls in rural China. Based on the theories of gender stratification (Ridgeway & Correll, 2000) this chapter argues that the investment and socialization decisions made by parents are shaped by cultural perspectives about essential abilities, rights, and gender roles. Such cultural perspectives then become reified in the different investments in human capital, and ultimately educational opportunities made available to boys and girls in rural China.