Gender disparities in science and engineering in Chinese universities

Gender disparities in science and engineering majors in Chinese universities have received increasing attention from researchers and educators in China in recent years. Using data from a national survey of college students who graduated in 2005, this study documents gender disparities in enrollment and academic performance in science and engineering majors, and explores gender disparities in initial employment experiences of science and engineering graduates. It finds that females lag far behind males in enrollment in science and engineering majors overall. However, females actually are more represented than males in some majors such as mathematics and chemistry though the reverse is true for other science and engineering majors. Also, in science and engineering majors, females perform better than males in both general course grades and in English competency tests. Male science and engineering graduates have a clear advantage over their female counterparts in initial employment after graduation: they have a high employment rate, a higher starting salary, and are more likely to be employed in such jobs as business management and technical specialist. The male advantage in employment rate and starting salary persists even after controlling for other factors.