Lisa Hyde

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Shi, Xia

Area of Concentration

History

Abstract

Prior to 1907, elite Chinese women typically received private education at home. However, by 1919, public universities were established for the first time in Chinese history for women to enroll. How to explain the rapid growth of Chinese women’s higher education during this period? This thesis aims to answer this important question by tracing the development of three types of higher education available for Chinese women then: public, private, and overseas. It first traces the establishment of higher learning institutions for female students since the late Qing in the context of national crises. It then focuses on sex-segregated institutions, specifically missionary and normal schools, that helped to alleviate conservative concerns about gender mingling and to uphold traditional female virtue. Finally, it shifts to examine Chinese women’s overseas higher education in Japan and the United States as important alternatives to domestic educational opportunities, analyzing the similarities and differences in their educational experiences. Throughout the thesis, particular attention will be given to the social backgrounds of students, their curriculums, their learned gender ideologies, and their political engagement. It demonstrates that while social progressives and conservatives had different objectives in promoting education for women, their intertwining influences led to the substantial and rapid development of higher education for Chinese women. Consequently, the progress of Chinese women’s higher education was shaped by the unique forces of nationalist politics and traditional gender ideologies during the late Qing and Republican eras.

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