A recent study by Yi Han, Dorothea Kübler, Yiming Liu, Xinye Zheng, and Yibo Zong reveals a significant gender gap in China's university admissions system, despite its gender-blind design. The research uncovers why equally qualified female students are less likely to apply to and be admitted to elite universities compared to their male counterparts. While the system does not discriminate based on gender, cultural and social factors shape application choices in ways that disadvantage women.
Understanding the reasons behind women's under-representation in high-reward fields, like elite universities, is crucial. While demand-side factors like discrimination are often studied, attention is increasingly turning towards supply-side influences – the choices individuals make. However, studying these choices presents two key challenges: first, cleanly separating supply-side factors from demand-side influences, such as anticipated discrimination, and second, determining whether observed differences in choices between genders arise from genuine personal preferences or external pressures like social expectations and stereotypes. This study aims to address these questions by examining university application decisions.
The study focuses on China's gender university admissions system, which offers a valuable setting to isolate supply-side factors. Admissions are based solely on the highly competitive Gaokao exam scores, operating under a centralized, gender-blind mechanism where universities cannot discriminate based on gender, and students are aware of this gender-blindness. Despite this level playing field, a significant gender gap persists: women are notably under-represented in China's elite universities. Access to these elite institutions has enormous returns, significantly boosting future earnings and career prospects, meaning this admission gap has large long-term economic consequences.
Their findings show that female students apply to elite universities far less often than their male peers, even when they have the same academic qualifications. While 19% of male students’ applications target elite universities, only 11% of female students’ choices do. This difference translates into lower admission rates: 13% of male students gain admission to elite universities, compared to only 7% of female students. The study found that this gap is not due to differences in academic ability, risk-taking behavior, confidence, or competitiveness. Instead, it is largely explained by the tendency of female students to prioritize universities that are closer to home and specialize in education rather than STEM fields or other high-reward disciplines.
The preference for proximity is not entirely a personal choice but is strongly influenced by parental expectations. Survey data reveal that while male and female students report similar personal preferences regarding university location, female students are far more likely to believe that their parents prefer them to attend a nearby university. A similar pattern emerges in specialization choices, where women are more likely to apply to education-focused universities, largely because they believe their parents favor this path. This suggests that female students align their choices with what they perceive as parental expectations more than male students do.
Beyond parental influence, gender stereotypes play a crucial role in shaping university application decisions. The researchers measured students' agreement with common gender stereotypes, such as the idea that “girls should stay near family” or that “boys excel in STEM while girls are better suited to humanities.” They found that the gender gap in elite university applications is primarily driven by students with strong gender stereotype beliefs. Among students with weak stereotype beliefs, the gender gap disappears entirely, suggesting that societal expectations, rather than inherent preferences, drive these differences.
The study rules out several alternative explanations for the gender gap. Female students do not avoid elite universities because they are more risk-averse or less competitive. They also do not underestimate their own abilities or the benefits of an elite education. In fact, female students show a better understanding of the admission process and make more strategically sound application choices than their male counterparts. The only significant differences between male and female applicants are the perceived parental expectations and the influence of gender stereotypes.
These findings carry important implications for policymakers. While gender-blind admissions ensure demand side equality, they do not eliminate gender disparities if male and female students face different social pressures. The research highlights the need for interventions that go beyond removing explicit discrimination and instead focus on addressing the societal influences that shape people’s choices.
On the authors
Yi Han
Assistant professor at the School of Applied Economics at Renmin University of China.
Dorothea Kübler
Director of the Market Behavior department at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and Professor of Economics at TU Berlin.
Yiming Liu
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin and WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
Xinye Zheng
Professor at the School of Applied Economics at Renmin University of China.
Yibo Zong
PhD student at Renmin University of China.
