WUNRN
CHINA - UK +
|
Source:
www.nwda-china.org.uk |
Studying abroad is encouraging Chinese women to challenge male
domination We are in the middle of the biggest educational movement in history.
Hundreds of thousands of young people are travelling to be educated abroad.
They are led by the Chinese, for whom a foreign education is highly
prized. There now are over 50,000 Chinese students in Britain - mostly the
children of the elite and the rich - and the numbers studying abroad are
predicted to double.
So what happens to the beliefs and values of these
young people when confronted by a culture so different from their own? Staying
in Britain produces extensive reflection about both British and Chinese society,
as a new study of recent graduates by the British Council has found. Our
approach to politics, sexuality, equality and rights look very different from
back home. They are amazed to see cartoons that are rude about Tony Blair.
(...)In China the position of women is less secure than in Britain, and
many feel great pressure to be married before the age of 30. One pointed to a
Chinese saying: "A man of 30 is like a blossoming branch, a woman of 30 is like
old bean shells." Some female participants were intensely aware of how their job
opportunities would be affected by their age and attractiveness - what is
referred to in China as "the beauty economy". There was approval of the idea
that women in Britain could go to university at the age of 40 or 50 to retrain.
But such relationships are likely to change, partly as a result of
pressure from highly educated women. The number of these who study abroad is
being expanded because of the intense focus on education in Chinese society, but
also as an unintended consequence of the one-child policy. In male-dominated
societies, the resources of the family for education tend to be focused on boys.
But in China, where the one-child policy works, each family has a 50% chance of
the only child being female - and because this is an only child, there is a
concentration of resources.
There are large numbers of young Chinese
women now in universities in Britain and other countries. This is creating a
constituency to demand more equal rights in careers, interpersonal relations and
individual development.
Chinese students come to Britain for the quality of its education system.
The experience of living in Britain also means that they can explore how their
conditions might change, for themselves and for the future of their own country.
Greg Philo
The Guardian
================================================================
To
leave the list, send your request by email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.