Leveling the Playing Field

　　Women‘s rights NGOs and lawyers call for gender equality in college enrollment

　　Sitting the once-a-year National College Entrance Exam and getting a high score are believed to be the only path to attend prestigious universities in China. However， a recent study shows that being male increases the chances due to discriminatory enrollment practices.

　　In August， the Media Monitor for Women Network， a Beijing-based non-governmental organization for protecting women’s rights， released a report on gender discrimination in college recruitment of undergraduate students. The report concluded that at least 74 of China‘s 112 national key universities and colleges have listed discriminating requirements in their admission policies. The study confined its data collection to information on official websites of these universities and colleges and reports by major media organizations.

　　A long struggle

　　The sexual bias in college admission was widely reported for the first time in 2005. Peking University， one of the best internationally ranked universities in China， was reported to impose high score standards on female candidates when recruiting for majors of less popular foreign languages， such as Vietnamese， Korean and Thai. In that year， the university announced in July that its lowest admission score for science students from Beijing was 619 for males and 636 for females. In response to waves of criticism， Liu Shuxiong， then Associate Dean of the School of Foreign Languages of Peking University， argued that the school needed to maintain a sex ratio among its students， of whom more than 70 percent were female.

　　Liu， also a professor of Hindi， said that he was teaching a class of 15 students， with only two males.

　　In 2006， the Ministry of Education (MOE) imposed a ban on setting sex ratios during college recruitment without its authorization. However， several newspapers reported in July 2012 that in the early decision stage of admission， some universities accepted male and female students separately to maintain a gender ratio， resulting in a skewed playground for girls. Administrators of some universities even told the media that such an admission policy was to limit the number of female students.

　　On July 9， 2012， Lu Pin， chief of the Media Monitor for Women Network， and lawyer Wang Yizhi respectively sent an application to the MOE， demanding the disclosure of information on which majors from which universities had been authorized to set a gender ratio in admission and on what basis.

　　The MOE responded to them a month later， saying that “some majors in a small number of universities are allowed to maintain a gender ratio when admitting students out of the concerns for national interests and their special needs.” The reply stressed that these universities must clearly list such a gender-balance concern in their enrollment plans.

　　On August 30， 2012， four women shaved their heads bald in Guangzhou， Guangdong Province， in protest against the ambiguous response of the MOE. They also demanded knowing the “special needs” in their petition.

　　On October 15， 2012， the MOE wrote a letter in response to a women’s legal aid organization based in Beijing and divided the majors alleged to have special needs into three categories， those concerning special vocations with gender ratio requirements， such as majors of national defense and public security； those unsuitable for women out of health concerns， such as majors of sailing and mining； and those with limited educational resources and gender-balanced demands in the labor market， such as majors of less popular foreign languages and broadcast journalism.

　　The Chinese People‘s Public Security University admitted a total of 1，840 students for undergraduate studies in 2012， only 214 or 11.63 percent were female.

　　Rong Weiyi， a professor at the university， said that this can be partly attributed to misconceptions that female police officers are less courageous than their male colleagues. She admitted that in reality female officers do face limits when performing certain tasks.

　　In January， Sun Xiaobin， a senior MOE official from the Department of Policies and Regulations， said in an interview that the ministry would further limit the gender requirement against women in college recruitment.

　　In May， the MOE issued regulations on college recruitment for 2013， saying that only some special institutions and majors concerning military， national defense and public security are allowed to exercise an enrollment gender ratio.

　　After the college recruitment for 2013 started in early July， Beijing Language and Culture University， Renmin University of China and Beijing Foreign Studies University， all canceled their gender ratio in recruiting students for majors of less popular foreign languages， which resulted in the admission of even fewer males. For example， Renmin University of China recruited 14 students for majors of less popular foreign languages in Beijing this year and only three were male.

　　No quick change

　　In the enrollment plans announced by universities this year， Dalian Maritime University and Wuhan University of Technology both required applicants to their major of maritime navigation to be male. Beihang University and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics limited the studies of aviator to only men. Jilin University and China University of Mining and Technology described their mining major as “suitable for male applicants.” Chang’an University advised females to “exercise caution” when applying for its geotechnical and tunnel engineering major.

　　Qinghai University said in its enrollment plan that exploration geophysics， survey and mapping as well as geology majors would limit female students below 10 percent of their new recruits. China University of Political Science and Law and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law both announced to limit their female recruits for majors related to public security to no more than 15 percent of the total.

　　While women in general are at a disadvantaged position in being accepted by universities， male students looking to become a nurse also face a slim chance. At least seven universities clearly stated in their enrollment plans that their nursing major prefers female candidates.

　　For a long time in the 20th century， male dominance was clear among recipients of higher education in China due to the fact that poorer families usually only sent their sons to school. However， with the increase in government financial aid programs and overall improvement of people‘s living standards， such a trend has changed. In the decade between 1995 and 2004， the proportion of female college students rose from 35.4 percent to 45.7 percent.

　　In 2007， among newly recruited students for undergraduate studies， the number of females for the first time surpassed that of males， accounting for 52.9 percent of enrollment. Since then， the proportion of female freshmen has been steadily climbing. By contrast， according to results of the sixth national population census conducted in 2011， males accounted for 51.27 percent of China’s total population. Some experts said that an important reason that higher education favors women than men is that girls perform better in the score-oriented education system in China.

　　Yan Lieshan， a famous news commentator in Guangzhou， even once wrote that universities setting a sex ratio during enrollment should not be regarded as discriminating against women at all as the current National College Entrance Exam puts a lot emphasis on mechanical memory， which leaves males at a natural disadvantage. Yan added that giving males preferential treatment during enrollment was only fair and necessary.

　　Lu from the Media Monitor for Women Network said that she disagreed with people like Yan. “If women are naturally better at the studies of certain disciplines and men are better at others， why universities mostly limit the number of female students in majors traditionally with more female candidates，” she argued.

　　Lu said that although gender discrimination in college enrollment affects a large number of female students with high scores at the National College Entrance Exam， very few of them are willing to condemn such unfair practice in public.

　　“These young women accepted such a change of their fate silently and switched to other majors or universities. Their parents also advised them to stay out of trouble，” Lu said.

　　Guo Jianmei， Director of a Beijing-based legal aid organization for women， told the Legal Weekly newspaper that although five lawyers of her organization are willing to offer free service to women in anti-discrimination lawsuits， they don‘t have many clients.

　　She said that due to the influence of an anti-lawsuit culture， very few Chinese people would like to defend their rights by taking their concerns to court.

　　Guo said that she was not confident of winning such cases even if there were plaintiffs. “As a victory in these cases would bring an upheaval to China’s education administrative system， concerned government departments would exert pressure to thwart investigation and prosecution procedures，” she noted.

　　Xiong Bingqi， Deputy Director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute in Beijing， told Legal Weekly that education authorities should more clearly explain to the public why certain majors need to impose a gender ratio in training professionals.

　　“As for majors of less popular foreign languages， instead of imposing a sex ratio during enrollment， universities should inform potential applicants of gender-selective labor market demands beforehand and allow them to make decisions themselves，” he suggested.