Zoey Chen
Class of 2025Shanghai, Out of country
About
Projects
- "How does the reinforcement of traditional Confucianist Yin-Yang gender roles through Zhihu, a Chinese social media platform, impact female high school students' STEM self-efficacy and career perception in China?" with mentor Ri (Working project)
Project Portfolio
How does the reinforcement of traditional Confucianist Yin-Yang gender roles through Zhihu, a Chinese social media platform, impact female high school students' STEM self-efficacy and career perception in China?
Started Apr. 25, 2024
Abstract or project description
Chinese societal norms and education system are founded upon the rules set out by Confucianism that highlight the yin-yang work balance of chauvinistic qualities of males being more individual-oriented and competitive, traits often tied to STEM fields, whereas females are defined as having soft and conforming characteristics that are responsible for taking care of the family and being submissive in a familial role. Thus expectations of society through the environment created by peers, teachers, parents, and the media, in which students in China are surrounded by often advocate for female students being inferior to male students when it comes to STEM subjects, discouraging female students from pursuing STEM pathways in their high school for the College Entrance Exam which is seen as definitive of one’s future career. The addition of lack of a supporting career outlook for females in STEM careers has also caused many female students to hesitate to choose STEM careers in the division of careers, further influencing the gender disparity in STEM fields. This study aims to focus on the impact of social media platforms such as Zhihu, the Chinese version of Quora, on reinforcing gender stereotypes and eventually career perceptions of female high school students in China by employing critical discourse analysis to address the portrayal of females in STEM in Zhihu users’ postings. By collecting the comments to several posts asking similar questions of STEM vs. social science pathways for female high school students, this study will then analyze the frequency of certain diction that reinforces yin-yang gender stereotypes. This study will then tie the results found to previous research papers that focused on the impact of social media on STEM career perceptions of female high school students as a conclusion.