The Barriers, Facilitators, and Solutions for Women in Educational Leadership Roles in a Chinese University

Abstract

Although women are considered to be dominant contributors in the field of education, underrepresentation of women in educational leadership is still a pervasive issue. The situation may be more critical in the Asian Chinese context, wherein the male-dominated tradition of the feudal system has been prevalent for thousands of years. This article examines the barriers faced by women in educational leadership roles in a Chinese university, and the facilitators of female educational leadership. The case study was conducted using qualitative methods, involving interviews with both male and female leaders. The findings present a range of barriers that women in the research university are now facing, facilitating factors, and ways to solve the issue. Addressing the importance of recognising the underrepresentation of women in Chinese universities also has the aim of promoting gender equity in educational leadership.

Gender inequality in academic leadership: Bangladesh, China and Finland

“…Women's pursuit of careers was considered aggressive and power‐obsessive. Even though such stereotypes have been criticised in contemporary Chinese society, their subconscious influence leads not only to gender discrimination in academic career (Zhang, 2010) but also to women's low motivation to seek academic promotion (Lu, 2020; Tang & Horta, 2021). While societal‐level barriers exert their impacts indirectly, barriers at the institutional level have direct impacts.…”

“…While societal‐level barriers exert their impacts indirectly, barriers at the institutional level have direct impacts. Previous studies have identified many institutional barriers to women's academic promotion, such as the organisational culture that silenced women, gender discrimination in promotion, and the men‐dominated institutional structure (Aiston & Fo, 2021; Lu, 2020; Rhoads & Gu, 2012; Tang & Horta, 2021; Zhang, 2010). Furthermore, individual characteristics, such as physiological and psychological characteristics (Huang et al, 2014), gender consciousness (Gaskell et al, 2004) and struggle to maintain work–life balance (Aiston & Fo, 2021; Huang et al, 2014; Zhang, 2010), can also discourage women from becoming leaders.…”

Chinese women in society: Confucian past, ambiguous emancipation and access to higher education

“…As a result of these measures, equal access to preschool education has been ensured, differences between boys and girls in the implementation of compulsory education have been eliminated, and the participation of girls in secondary and upper secondary education has been significantly increased. Thanks to legal regulations and institutional solutions, the gender gap at the higher education level has disappeared (see also Xintong Lu, 2020). Women make up more than 54% of those studying at Chinese universities (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2021), and those born after 1990 are better educated than men (Yang, 2183(Yang, -2803(Yang, 2020.…”

“…In 2011 the Chinese government passed the National Program for Women’s Development, which aimed to increase gender equality in China and changed quantitatively the situation of women in access to higher education (see also: Xintong Lu, 2020, p.5–24). Consequently, in the following years, there was an actual increase in the number of women studying.…”

Gender bias in team-building activities in China

“…Moreover, women are passed over for critical assignments and receive more non-promotable tasks than their male counterparts (Babcock et al , 2017). Correspondingly, women are promoted at lower rates than men of equal status (Richter et al , 2020) and are still grossly underrepresented in corporate leadership (Lu, 2020); women hold only six per cent of CEO positions at S&P 500 companies (Catalyst, 2021).…”