Can higher education improve egalitarian gender role attitudes? Evidence from China

Egalitarian gender role attitudes are crucial for empowering women across household, labor market, and political spheres; however, the evolution of these attitudes remains underexplored. This study examines the impact of higher education on gender role attitudes using a quasi-natural experiment based on China's higher education expansion. The data are obtained from the China Family Panel Studies. Our results reveal that this expansion considerably enhanced higher education attainment for men and women; however, the effects on gender role attitudes are asymmetric. While higher education positively influences women's career-related gender norms, it does not substantially impact their marriage-related attitudes or men's gender role attitudes. Moreover, attaining higher education also improves women's career-related gender equality behaviors. Further analysis indicates that these divergent impacts are attributable to patriarchal Confucian culture, educated women's superior labor market performance, and the lack of gender equality education. We also consider the role of marriage-matching patterns, whereby women tend to marry partners with higher education and greater earnings, which reinforces traditional gender roles in marriage. • Higher education expansion increases attainment of higher education degrees for men and women. • Women with higher education degrees have progressive gender role attitudes toward their careers, but not toward marriage. • Higher education attainment has no notable influence on men's gender role attitudes. • The divergent impact is attributed to patriarchal culture, women's labor market outcomes, and a lack of gender equality education. • Finally, selective marriage practice may reinforce women's traditional gender roles towards marriage.