Comparative Analysis of Education System & Gender Gap in China & India

This essay presents a comparative study of the education systems and gender gaps in China and India. It highlights the key differences in their respective education structures, with China emphasizing a nine-year compulsory education and India following a ten-plus-two system. The analysis delves into the gender disparities in both countries, noting China's progress in female education and workforce participation compared to India. The essay explores the cultural and societal factors influencing these disparities, including traditional patriarchal values and economic considerations. While China has made strides in gender equality, challenges persist, and India faces significant hurdles in ensuring equal access to education and opportunities for women. The conclusion emphasizes the need for continued efforts to address these inequalities and promote a balanced and equitable environment in both nations. Desklib offers a range of resources, including similar essays and study tools, to aid students in their academic pursuits.

Running head: COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINA AND INDIA
Comparative Study of China and India
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

1COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINA AND INDIA
Table of Contents
Education system and gender-gap comparison between China and India:......................................2
Education system:........................................................................................................................2
Gender-gap between China and India:........................................................................................2
Situation in China:...........................................................................................................................3
Situation in India:............................................................................................................................4
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................6
References:......................................................................................................................................7

2COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINA AND INDIA
Education system and gender-gap comparison between China and India:
Education system:
Chinese education system comprises of six years of primary school, three years of lower
secondary and higher secondary both. It is required in the country that every child needs to
attend the nine years of school, six years of primary and three years of lower secondary school.
There also the adoption of the mission of equipping children in terms of the core skills and
capabilities of learning and curiosity (Deng and Poon‐McBrayer 2012).
Education system in India is different from China in the sense that it comprises of ten to
twelve years of education and then three years of graduation and post graduation. In this case
there is a difference between both the education system. Schooling facilities are offered at state
run and private schools as well. It is also seen that the young people who do not wish to go on to
tertiary education or the students who are not interested in completing secondary school can
specialize in one or two courses.
Gender-gap between China and India:
It has been seen from research that businesses benefit from having women in proper
leadership roles and this is because of the fact that diversity and complementary management
styles are brought to the boardrooms and also in case of management teams. There are also
shortages of significant talent as well as labour which cannot be solved without proper women’s
participation in the labour force and in other roles which require leadership. The countries of
Asia usually lag behind the rest of the world in the present scenario. It is usually reported that

3COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINA AND INDIA
China is leaps ahead of India. It has been seen that women taker up only 8% of the organisational
boards and 27% participate in the labour forces.
Cultural perceptions and attitude play a crucial role in the religious as well as in case of
philosophical traditions. It is seen that the concept of hierarchy is believed and male patriarchs
are considered to be over the family. It is often stated that the progressive attitudes towards the
women are rooted in the idea of communism and the idea of contribution of every member is the
society is believed. The overall tradition of women joining their family is a contributing factor
which points to the gender gap. It is believed in this connection that there is an overall
improvement of the trends in Asia. There are economic patterns and overall development
improvements in the Asian countries. There are several Asian companies which implement
women friendly policies in order to retain the talented female employees (Mahajan et al.2014).
Situation in China:
The official statistics of China has shown that there are more female than male students
in the universities of China. In case of a country which has more men than women, there are
many families which prioritize the education of their boys which is clearly evident in case of
different universities. It is also seen that then gender ratio has been reversed in the campus. There
are certain arguments which say that the education in system favours girls mostly. The collected
data also points to the fact that the girls are seen and considered to be better than the boys in their
peer group and also are found to be better at self-discipline (Lee 2012).
It has been seen that there are fewer people are working in India than China. The gender
gap is much more in India than in case of China.

4COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINA AND INDIA
It is important to understand that Chinese society functions based on pretty stereotypical
laws and there is the observation of specific roles which needs to be fulfilled by the members.
There is an old fashioned patriarchal society where usually men are supposed to provide and a
woman is supposed to take care of the family. It is seen that there are people who do not
advocate such philosophies. There are also certain deeply rooted values like loyalty, respect to
elders and ancestors and observance of specific traditions and customs. There are cultural values
of a country which impact the national psychology and identity. The values and opinions of the
citizens are conveyed to the leaders of the state by means of information channels. There are
traditional cultural values that influence the Chinese people’s psychology. One of the core values
is that of harmony. The concept of harmony is supposed to mean that there is a proper and
balanced communication or coordination between the people and there is an existent suitability
as well as appropriateness. There needs to be a sense of harmony overall and an overall
uniformity. There also needs to be the coordination of certain things by considering them
together in a suitable manner (Heckman and Yi 2012).
Situation in India:
It is often considered that the poverty is responsible for the disruption of the fundamental
right of education among the Indian girls. But it is not the only thing which is responsible for the
disruption of the fundamental right of education among the Indian girls. There are several factors
which contribute to the lack of female education, which include the distance of schools from
several villages, the shortage of female teachers, the gender bias in the curriculum among several
other issues. This is responsible for causing a lot of problems in the schools (Mehrotra 2012).

5COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINA AND INDIA
It is usually reported that the education of women in India is hampered at different stages.
Usually the parents cannot afford education for their children and in the societies the male
children are more often than not given preference over the female students. There is the existence
of gender defined roles for the females which has impacted the level of female education in the
country to a large extent. There is the existence of many superstitions regarding the rights and
education of the girls as it is believed that their main job is to take care of their family and they
should not be taught or educated too much. However the government is thinking about the
education of the girls and aims to take measures in order to contribute to the education of women
in India (Sahni and Shankar 2012).
It is to be understood that education is the basic human right which needs to be exercised
in different nations completely. However it is seen that the education of a girl is actually a
starting point in the establishment of equality everywhere. Despite the guarantee of equality
before the law, it is often seen that the girls often do not get the facilities which the boys get.
There are several schools for the girls but they are unable to attended them because of either
religious reasons or due to the cultural pressures (Tilak 2013).
There are several reasons for which the girls are pulled out of universities. The first and
foremost reason is due to family responsibilities. It is considered that the girls provide free labour
at home for the family. There are several girls who are kept at home because it is considered that
they can provide labour at home which is free. The family plays a crucial role in the life of a girl
and also in shaping the future. Huge respect is given to the elders and therefore no decision is
taken without consulting them. The decisions which are taken for the girls in India are usually
for their families. The individuals who grow up in India need to respect the norms of the family

6COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINA AND INDIA
are respected. It is seen from reports that India has been ranked as 105 among 128 countries in
the countries’ education for all development Index.
There are reasons like the protection of honour of the family and also the inequality at the
time of primary education as the girls cannot attend school due to inadequate facilities. There are
many schools which do not provide proper facilities to the girls and this harms their overall
health for which their parents do not send them to school.
Conclusion:
There needs to be a proper balance between the facilities which are provided to the males
as well as the females in the different families. Despite the narrowing of gender gaps in the
recent decades, there are inequalities which have persisted in certain critical areas. There are
significant gender gaps in case of the employment, self employment, part-time work,
entrepreneurship as well as decision making. Therefore it is seen that women also face a higher
risk of poverty in comparison to the men. The situation in China is better and progressive
because it helps in providing facilities of education and employment for the females. The
scenario is getting better in India however, much more work needs to be done. In this
connection, men have a huge role to play in the case of gender equality and their mindsets also
need to be changed. Only if all the people work together a goal of equality, balance and proper
environment can be achieved.

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References:
Deng, M. and Poon‐McBrayer, K.F., 2012. Reforms and challenges in the era of inclusive
education: the case of China. British journal of special education, 39(3), pp.117-122.
Heckman, J.J. and Yi, J., 2012. Human capital, economic growth, and inequality in China (No.
w18100). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Lee, M.H., 2012. The one-child policy and gender equality in education in China: Evidence from
household data. Journal of family and economic issues, 33(1), pp.41-52.
Leibold, J. and Chen, Y. eds., 2014. Minority education in China: Balancing unity and diversity
in an era of critical pluralism. Hong Kong University Press.
Mahajan, R., Agrawal, R., Sharma, V. and Nangia, V., 2014. Factors affecting quality of
management education in India: an interpretive structural modelling approach. International
Journal of Educational Management, 28(4), pp.379-399.
Mehrotra, S., 2012. The cost and financing of the right to education in India: Can we fill the
financing gap?. International Journal of Educational Development, 32(1), pp.65-71.
Sahni, R. and Shankar, V.K., 2012. Girls’ higher education in India on the road to inclusiveness:
on track but heading where?. Higher Education, 63(2), pp.237-256.
Schwartz, S., 2012. Mapping and interpreting cultural differences around the world. In Value
frameworks at the theoretical crossroads of culture. Intercultural research (pp. 340-379).
Shanghai foreign language Education press.

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Tilak, J.B. ed., 2013. Higher education in India: In search of equality, quality and quantity.
Orient Blackswan.