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男女升学人数差距为何越拉越大
经济观察报·2025-07-30 11:06

Core Viewpoint - The gender gap in higher education enrollment in China is widening, with female students increasingly dominating university admissions, particularly in certain provinces like Yunnan, Guangxi, and Henan [1][3][4]. Group 1: Gender Enrollment Trends - In 2022, female students accounted for 63.1% of new enrollments in undergraduate programs, with 299.9 million females compared to 175.6 million males [1][9]. - The enrollment of female students in undergraduate programs has significantly increased from 58% in 2011 to 63.1% in 2022, while the male enrollment has decreased [2][4]. - From 2010 to 2022, the total number of undergraduate enrollments rose from 351.3 million to 475.6 million, with 99.3% of the increase (123.4 million) being female students [9]. Group 2: Regional Disparities - In 2022, the proportion of female students in undergraduate programs reached 81.7% in Yunnan, 73.3% in Guangxi, and 70.4% in Henan, while major cities like Beijing and Shanghai had lower female enrollment rates of 51% and 54.3%, respectively [3][17]. - The gender gap in enrollment is particularly pronounced in Guangxi, where the ratio of female to male students in high schools has shifted from 1/4 to 3/4 over the past 15 years [2][20]. Group 3: Factors Contributing to Gender Disparities - The "boy crisis" is influenced by various local factors, including family dynamics where boys from left-behind families often lack educational motivation compared to girls [4][22]. - Educational assessment mechanisms that focus heavily on reading and expression skills tend to favor girls, leading to a decline in boys' academic performance [14][30]. - The cultural perception of education and gender roles in rural areas contributes to the widening gap, with many families placing less emphasis on boys' academic success [27][28]. Group 4: Recommendations for Improvement - Experts suggest that boys should start school later than girls to better align their developmental readiness with educational demands [29]. - There is a call for a more comprehensive evaluation system in education that considers various skills beyond academic performance, which may help address the disparities [30].