Gender Inequality Lowers Educational Aspiration for Adolescent Boys and Girls: A Multi-Level and Longitudinal Study in China

Adolescent students' educational aspiration is a crucial predictor of both concurrent academic achievement and educational attainment later in life. Past studies on educational aspiration have mostly focused on the role of individual factors and the immediate context but have neglected the role of the broader societal environment. The current study examined (1) how gender inequality shaped adolescents' long-term educational aspiration and (2) whether gender inequality affected boys and girls differently. We used the longitudinal data of the China Family Panel Studies (2010–2014), which included a sample of 3,464 adolescents from 25 provinces in China (49.5% girls; Mage = 12.56, SD = 1.74). Multilevel analyses showed that adolescents in provinces with higher levels of gender inequality reported lower educational aspiration four years later. This association remained significant after adjusting for baseline educational aspiration and multiple provincial and sociodemographic covariates. The effects of gender inequality did not differ between boys and girls, suggesting that gender inequality was detrimental for both boys' and girls' long-term educational aspiration. The current study highlights the important role of gender inequality in education and underscores the importance of looking beyond individual factors and the proximal context in understanding adolescents' educational aspiration. Our findings suggest the importance of reducing socio-structural gender biases and institutional impediments (e.g., expectations to perform gendered role, women's underrepresentation) which constrain both girls' and boys' educational aspiration and development.