Naturalised difference: everyday mechanisms of gender bias against female students in Chinese universities

Despite rising female enrolment in Chinese universities, gender bias persists through everyday practices that appear neutral and are difficult to contest. This study examines how a shared classificatory logic reproduces bias across academic interaction, university space and intimate life. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of practice, symbolic capital and symbolic violence, it conceptualises gender bias as embedded in routine practices. Based on 108 hours of observation and interviews with 32 female students and nine teachers at three universities, the study identifies three mechanisms: unequal allocation of epistemic time, attention and recognition in academic interaction; differential spatial ease shaping female students’ bodily regulation; and gendered norms in intimate life that intensify scrutiny. The findings reveal how gender bias is reproduced under the guise of neutrality, highlighting the limits of gender-neutral approaches in higher education.