第伍篇 其他比較教育課題
Chapter 1
Gender Differences in Taiwan's
Academe-Implications for China
（台灣學界的性別差異-對大陸的啟示）
Introduction
Throughout the world teaching in higher education has traditionally been a male-dominated profession. Women have been a minority of instructors and professors at colleges and universities, even in countries where women represent over half of the students in higher education. As a minority, women have been segregated into the lower ranks, into part-time teaching and into the less lucrative and 'female' fields. Discrimination against women has occurred with respect to hiring, reward, promotion and granting tenure. Women have not been sponsored into the academic profession in the same ways as men have (Kelly, 1991).
This chapter draws from two empirical studies on female faculty members in Taiwan (Chou, 1992; Chang, 1995). Women's participation in Taiwan's higher education serves as a good indicator for the modernization in the PRC's education system, and the findings of Taiwan studies therefore are relevant to the PRC. The purpose of this chapter is to analyse how and to what extent gender differences exist in the measures of hiring faculty staff, rewards and promotion in Taiwan, and to relate these findings to the PRC.
Status of Women in Taiwan
As in many patriarchal societies, Chinese women have suffered from being treated as an inferior group and deprived of access to political power and economic independence (Young, 1973; Yao, 1983; Sheridan & Salaff, 1984). The patrilineal descent principle operates as a major source of women's subordination. A strong preference for male children permeates Taiwan's society, as sons are seen as a potential source of support for their parents in old age, while helping to continue the family name. The general attitude towards women is reflected in common Chinese maxims, such as 'Male superior, female inferior' (zhong nan qing nu, 重男輕女) and 'Husband masters the public domain and wife masters the home' (nan zhu wai, nu zhu nei, 男主外，女主內). These traditional gender roles have been legitimized as stabilizers of both family and society in Taiwan's ideology.
Unlike their Western counterparts, Chinese women in the past were not organized to fight against their disadvantaged situation. As a result of the political revolution in 1911 and the May Fourth Movement in 1919, women started to play a more active role in the society and struggled to liberate themselves from the traditional value system (Yao, 1983; Ono, 1989). In education, women gained some privileges such as admittance to national universities and more opportunities in higher education.
Prior to 1895, the beginning of Japanese colonization, the position of women in Taiwan and the Mainland was quite similar in regards to lack of education, rigid kinship ties and absence of legal rights. Women were confined to their families before marriage and to their husbands afterwards (Robinson, 1975). Under the colonial policy from 1895 to 1945 when Taiwan was occupied by Japan, girls were allowed to attend primary schools to become literate, but were prevented from pursuing higher education. In 1945, when Taiwan returned to mainland China, many laws prevailing in mainland China were extended to Taiwan. A notable example is the 1947 Constitutional Law, which stated that all citizens of the Republic of China were equal in law, regardless of gender, religion, race and political party. Despite Taiwan's economic modernization that has expanded women's access to education and economic participation in the labour force, Confucian beliefs still prevail, and Taiwanese society remains strongly patriarchal. Persistence of traditional values and socialization processes perpetuate traditional sexrole differentiation (Chiang & Ku, 1985). This traditional ideology and social role of women were rarely questioned until the 1970s, when a 'new generation' of Taiwanese emerged.
Economic Participation of Women in Taiwan
Despite the traditional Chinese view of women as tied to home, several factors have given rise to new role expectations. These include a rise in women's overall educational level, technological advances that simplified housework, and a decline in fertility rates. As a result, women have entered the labour market in increasing numbers. The female labour force's participation rate in Taiwan increased from an average of 34% in the 1960s to 45% in 1993 (Statislical year-book of the Repuhlic of China, 1994). The share of female employment in total employment increased from 28% in 1951 to 38% in 1992 (Statiptical Yearbook of the Republic of China, 1993).
With respect to salary differentials, women in Taiwan earned 42% of men's annual income in the labour market in 1964 and 57% in 1978 (Fei, et. al., 1982). In 1991, on average, women earned less than 68% of the wages paid to men (Chang, 1994). According to the 1982 Survey of Family Income and Expenditure, women with graduate school education were paid about 88% of salary paid to men with comparable education and 77% in 1991 (Chang, 1995). In 1988, the female/male earnings ratio for those with undergraduate education was about 2:3 and about 1:2 for those with primary education. In 1991, it was 7.8:10 and 5.9:10 respectively (Hsieh, 1995). Thus, the discrepancy in salary between men and women decreases as education level rises (Ben, 1985).
The earnings differential is attributed to differences in the employment structure. Female workers engage in relatively less attractive and less lucrative occupations, or at the lower end of production with less pay and less job security. Due to their responsibility for the family and their disrupted employment, women have less opportunity for promotion and are more likely to be concentrated at the lower levels of the occupational ladder.
With respect to hiring, women face discrimination and unequal opportunities. In the government sector, women have faced relatively fewer barriers because the National Public Service Examination is open to both sexes. The proportion of women passing this examination has increased dramatically, from less than 4% in 1950 to more than 50% in 1992. For example, in 1992, of the 6,995 people passing the examination, 59% were women in the Higher Level Examination; 81% of the 6,018 people who qualified in the Ordinary Level Examination were women. Although women do not face formal obstacles in either examination, after passing the examinations they need to wait longer for a job assignment than men since the government often classifies the candidates. Moreover, equally qualified men have more opportunity to be assigned jobs in the government sector. Also, many private-sector employers and firms formulate unreasonable policies to keep out women. In private companies women are often forced to resign upon marriage or pregna ncy. Employers sometimes set quotas to protect the numbers of men in the various jobs and to keep the number of women low (Chen, 1993).
In sum, increased access to education has an important impact on female economic participation, female employment structure and female earnings. Continued expansion of educational opportunities for women would further expand their socio-economic participation and improve their social status. However, even after entering the job market, women face discrimination in training and promotion (Chang, 1995; Kuo, 1993). Equal opportunity in hiring, training and promotion for women is a prerequisite for the attainment of equality across gender. How to overcome the subtle gender bias in work and cope with personal life and career is one of the greatest challenges that women around the globe encounter today.
Empirical Research on Hiring Faculty Staff and The Academic Reward System
This section first reviews the process for hiring faculty staff and the academic reward system in Taiwanese higher education institutions. Then, it presents the results of two empirical studies.
Hiring faculty staff
Hiring, evaluation and certification of faculty members are closely regulated by the Ministry of Education. All new faculty members start at the same rank and salary level in accordance with their qualifications.
The recruitment of personnel in a department is usually handled by its chairperson, who screens the applications and nominations, then submits his or her selection to an ad hoc committee for further evaluation. In recent years, with an increasing push for academic democratization, the ad hoc committee has started playing an important role in the first step of the hiring process by reviewing all the applications. However, the chairperson still remains very influential in the decision process in the department. The ad hoc committee, in turn, submits its recommendation to the dean of the college for final approval. Finally, the dean's decision is submitted to the university senate for endorsement. Once the senate approves the hiring decision, the Ministry of Education sets the rank and grants the newly hired faculty member a teaching certificate.
The screening criteria (such as qualifications) are based upon the subjective judgement of the chair and the ad hoc committee. Their perceptions may be distorted, for example, by personal prejudice against women. The chair may be authoritarian and monopolistic, and may exercise personal favouritism and nepotism in hiring. Thus, departments may recruit not simply on the basis of qualification, but also according to gender preference. To determine the extent to which this practice occurs, this study looks at the attitudes of both the department chair and the ad hoc committee members in the hiring process.
In 1995, a survey was conducted among current and former department chairs and professors who were on ad hoc hiring committees in the 11 fields of study in 33 higher institutions in Taiwan (N=283). They were given ten fictitious job resumes describing the applicants and were asked to complete a questionnaire1. According to the survey, the most important stated criteria in hiring faculty staff in Taiwan wre the candidate's publications and education. The second and third important criteria were work experience and age respectively, followed by familiarity and alumni status. The marital status and gender of the applicant were not reported as very important.
To determine whether gender in fact made a difference in the hirability ratings for each candidate, a summary rating of the four measures of applicant's hirabi lity (competency, attractiveness as colleague, general desirability and the reviewer's inclination to hire the candidate) was calculated for each candidate. No significant difference appeared when candidates were represented as women or men. No personal characteristic, for example, rank, educational background, country of earned degree, teaching and administrative experience, age, department, institution-showed a consistent pattern of strong gender preference in hiring faculty staff.
Income and promotion
The remuneration paid to full-time university teachers in Taiwan consists of salary and allowances. Salary corresponds to position, concurrent administrative work and professional experience. Allowances apply to food, housing and research2. Outside income is also an important form of academic reward, as many faculty members serve as paid-consultants to outside business enterprises.
The four ranks in the faculty hierarchy in the early 1990s were teaching assistant, lecturer, associate professor and full professor. Given a teacher's good record and specialized publications, the minimal number of four years of service is required for a teaching assistant to become a lecturer; at each step at least three years are needed before a lecturer can become an associate professor and then be promoted to a full professor. Ideally, promotion should be based on performance in teaching, research and service. In reality, however, teaching performance is difficult to measure; research productivity is usually evaluated by only one representative work; and the priority given to service during an academic career varies over time. Consequently, seniority has become a surrogate for performane and the major criterion for rank promotion.
In 1990, a survey with interviews collected various data, including academics' personal attitudes towards the academic reward system3. Female faculty members had a lower total income than their male counterparts, even after demographic, educational and work variables were taken into consideration. Not surprisingly, the survey found that those who held a higher academic rank assumed higher-level administrative positions, published more books and articles, worked in a public institution or engaged in community service, and were more likely to have a higher total income.
Concerning promotion, academics who either (1) did not have a doctoral degree, or (2) had earned their degrees from domestic institutions, (3) majored in non-natural sciences, or (4) were not in administration took more time to advance to the rank of professor. Women tended to spend more years before being promoted to the rank of professor than to that of associate professor. Women encountered fewer chances to be promoted at the senior stage than at the junior rank.
The reward system (income and promotion) appears to be fair and objective. Women's lower achievement was very much shaped by forces from different directions, family influence in particular. Men and women experience different career patterns and treatment in academe. Marriage facilitated men's academic career while inhibiting women's achievement in academe.
Results
Gender differentiation is entrenched in income and promotion in the academic sector. As compared to their male counterparts, female faculty members tend to spend more years before achieving the professor rank and earn a lower total income. Male faculty members have more publications, more access to higher administrative positions, community services and social networks. Consequently, men are more visible in the field, receive more recognition and allowances from institutions and have more presence in the decision-making process. Social networking in academe results in more outside income for male than female faculty members. Whether there is gender discrimination in Taiwan's academic reward system is still a question to be answered. Nevertheless, female faculty members, on the average, are promoted slower and earn less.
Women often lack the encouragement and opportunities to tap into the social and information networks which are vital for occupational attainment, especially in a society loke Taiwan where much information tends to travel through informal channels. In academe, as in other sectors of society, success is often affected by not only what you know but whom you know; not only by hard work, but also by guidance, support and advocacy from those who are already established in the system. The exclusion of women from the information network and their underrepresentation in faculties contribute to unequal opportunities for women ,who cannot translate their educational attainments into gains in the academic market-place.
Comparison between Taiwanese and Mainland University Women
Since 1950 female graduates in the PRC have had relatively equal job opportunities under the socialist job assignment system. This is also the case in academe where female professionals are relatively well represented compared to their counterparts in other Asian countries (Hayhoe, 1996). Returnees from study abroad working in northwest China, for example, reported they experienced no career barriers caused by their gender (Hayhoe, 1996). Similarly, the Taiwanese women in the faculty study discussed above reported being aware of no discrimination in the hiring process. To date research has been limited in scope and the data in both cited studies are by no means representative. They nevertheless raise the question: are the interviewees just too successful to have experienced gender discrimination in their career? How aware of discrimination are the faculty members? For both Taiwan and the PRC, true gender equality in the hiring of faculty staff has yet to be established. As Stanley Rosen and many others have critiqued, the reforms in the post-Mao era have created a context unprecedented since 1949 which legitimated not only the traditional attitudes against women, but also the explicit gender discrimination in employment and education (Andors, 1993). A great deal of survey data suggest that the economic reforms have in fact contributed to gender inequality in the PRC (Zhongguo Funu Bao, 26 April, 1989). Women continue to be excluded from employment and education as Chinese modernization proceeds.
The PRC Education Law issued on 18 March 1995 reimposes gender equality in education. '...Citizens under the law should have equal educational opportunities regardless of ethnicity, race, gender... (item 9) and...' schools and related departments should ensure that females and males are treated equally when it comes to school admission, further studying, job employment, awarding academic degrees, and selecting people for overseas study' (item 36) (Zhongguo Jiaoyu Bao, 22 march, 1995). The passage of the law, of course, does not guarantee its effective implementation or cause an attitude change in the society to reverse the perceived inferior position of women. Despite family obstacles and traditional values that work against women, the current social structure and public policies on economic reform in the PRC also appear to have a negative impact on women's employment opportunities. In fact, many reports show that Chinese college women have experienced increasing discrimination in employment since the 1980s.
As a result of the recent modifications in the centralized job assignment system, coupled with increasing enterprise autonomy, more and more employers tend to hire male graduates rather than their female counterparts (Jiang, 1998; Rosen, 1992). College women are considered by many employers to be less creative, more arrogant and hard to deal with. An investigation conducted in Shanghai in 1988 shows that more than 50% of female graduates were rejected by their prospective hiring units (Su, 1989). Younger women also consider the increasingly explicit gender inequality as a serious social issure (Zhongguo Funu, 1, Jan, 1989). With respect to academic women, the case can also be applicable to their profession. Many surveys conducted in the PRC reveal that women are less likely to be hired in the profession, have less opportunity to be promoted to the top positions, are underrepresented among those with the highest degree, and tend to cluster in more female-traditional fields (Rosen, 1992). For example, among members selected for the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, women accounted for only 4% (26 out o f 644) in 1985 (Hunan Resources Research Institute, 1986).
Another example is that the recruitment of female scientists in the Chinese Academy of Sciences declined in the mid-1980s (to less than one-third); so did women recruits in other state-owned scientific and technical departments (Lilu, 1988). Statistics also show that the higher the position, the greater the discrepancy between men and women (Lilu, 1988). The percentage of female professionals declines as one moves up the career ladder. Although there is no direct evidence to show that women face gender discrimination in faculty hiring, it is obvious that, in the post-Mao reform era, more and more female graduates have been less likely to be hired by the work- unit－let alone develop their career in academe.
Though no actual statistics show that Mainland female faculty members earn less than their male counterparts, the increasing pressure from market reform has a great negative impact on female professionals. For example, from the 1980s, many Mainland universities have struggled to make extra income to improve faculty members' salaries. In addition to a fixed institutional salary, faculty members now receive benefits from other sources, such as fees from self-supporting students, research contracts with enterprises, and profit from school-run factories. Men tend to have a greater network for outside opportunities and are more likely to engage in research projects with outside sources. While achievements are necessary for academic reward, women are not put into a position to demonstrate their abilities. Female faculty members are expected to take up much of the teaching, lower-level administration and household and parenting chores (Hayhoe, 1996). The latter activities are not as well rewarded as the former ones, and income discrepancy between male and female academics in PRC is visible, if not statistically definable.
Housing is also an important issue in the academic reward system. In many Mainland universities, female faculty members qualify for on-campus housing only after they reach the rank of associate professor, whereas men are provided with accommodation at the rank of teaching assistant. This double standard reflects the value that men's career development carries more weight than women's in Mainland academe (Hayhoe, 1996). Another example shows the unequal treatment of men and women. The retirement age is 60 for men and 55 for women. As one approaches retirement, opportunities become fewer and fewer for women than men, while pressures increase. Consequently, women do not move up as much as their male counterparts (Zhngguo Funu Bao, 31 march, 1986).
For both Taiwanese and Mainland female faculty members, a graduate degree is crucial to promotion. In Taiwan, a doctoral degree is essential for female professionals in academic employment, research, high-level administrative positions, and for rank advancement (Chou, 1992). Compared to their Taiwanese counterparts, Mainland female faculty members also face difficulties in promotion. As the current criteria for promotion emphasize formal graduate degrees and research productivity, women are disadvantaged because they are less likely to hold a graduate degree or to publish. Consequently, women's rank promotion tends to be slower than their male counterparts.
Conclusion
Gender differences exist in the measures of academic rewards and promotion in Taiwan. Although empirical studies do not show a consistent pattern of strong gender preference in the resume-evaluation stage of hiring faculty members, due to the imperfection of this evaluation technique, discrimination possibly exists; more comprehensive research is needed.
Regarding the status of female faculty members in Taiwan and the PRC, both groups share commonalties in their academic careers. The status of contemporary Taiwanese and Mainland women reflects a mixture of traditional values coupled with modified ideas about women and their role in society. Although female faculty members are generally highly educated, better informed and represent the elite levels of the society, many of them are still confronting traditional gender prejudice or discrimination at work.
In terms of educational achievement, the progress of women in Taiwan and the PRC has increased at all levels of education over the past four decades. Specifically in higher education, Taiwan's female participation increased almost fourfold, form 11% in 1951 to 43% in 1994. The attainment rate of Mainland women started at higher level than in Taiwan and increased by only 12% in the last 40 years (see Table 1).
Table 1
Percentage of female educational participation
in Taiwan and the PRC
Sources: Education statistics of the Republic of China 1950, 1951, 1971, 1995; Hsieh, 1995; Essential statistics of education in China, 1994; Achievement of education in China 1949-1983, 1984.
Likewise, the representation of Taiwanese faculty women started lower than in the PRC but caught up in the 1990s. The current proportion of female academics is similar in both societies; about one-third of academics are female (see Tables 2 and 3).
With respect to the hiring of faculty staff, research for both Taiwan and the PRC reports that discrimination does not exist. Yet, the lack of social/ informal networks coupled with a biased evaluation of female applicants could indicate gender discrimination. The current revised job placement system reveals a renewed discrimination against women at university (Hayhoe, 1996). To substantiate whether there is true equality in faculty staff employment requires further investigation.
Table 2
Percentage of female faculty members
in Taiwan and the PRC
Sources: Educational Statistics of the Republic of China 1995; Educational statistics yearbook of China 1994; Achievement of education in China, 1949-1983
Table 3
Percentage of female faculty members at different ranks, 1994
Sources: Educational statistics of the Republic of China 1995; Educational statistics yearbook of China 1994; Achievement of education in China, 1949-1983
In terms of rewards, income discrepancy between male and female faculty members prevails in Taiwan. Although no data exist to indicate that Mainland female faculty members earn less than their male counterparts, recent market reforms are theorized to have a negative impact on women's income.
For both Taiwanese and Mainland female faculty members, a graduate degree is of great importance for rank promotion. In both societies, female academics spend more time on teaching and lower-level administration than on research publication. Despite career pressure, female faculty members in Taiwan and the PRC are still expected to assume full responsibility for family and child care obligations. As a result, female faculty members take a longer time than men for advancement to a higher rank.
In sum, gender differences exist with respect to hiring, reward and promotion in Taiwanese and Mainland academic sectors. Women have had more barriers and have not been sponsored into the academic profession in the same ways as men have. The status of Taiwanese female academics is found to be comparable to that of their Mainland counterparts.
〔Source: Agelasto, Michael & Bob Adamson (eds.). (1998). Higher Education in Post-Mao China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. pp. 345-358.〕
NOTES
1. In the study, a stratified random sampling by the tri-category of departments (humanities, social sciences and sciences/technology) and universities was used. These resumes closely approximated those usually submitted by applicants for faculty positions in Taiwanese colleges and universities. The ten applicants were shown as having varying academic qualifications, such as education, publications, work experience and personal characteristics (such as age, gender and marital status).
2. In addition, a research subsidy fund was set up under the National Science Council of the Executive Yuan for those who wished to conduct specific research projects. The pay scale for public institution teachers is fixed according to the salary scale for public functionaries and based on 12-month employment. See Education statistics of the Republic of China 1991; Lu, 1986.
3. The subjects were full and associate university professors from a national dataset in Taiwan. All women in the data-set, totaling 827, were included in this study and a comparable number of men were also selected. Two major instruments were developed for data collection in August 1990: a survey questionnaire and an in-depth interview. The survey returned 740 valid responses (45%). In addition, 23 faculty members took part in the in-depth interviews.
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（Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Dr. Flora Chia-I Chang, second anthor of the chapter.）
Chapter 2
Chinese University Admissions:
Comparing the Cultural Revolution and Post-Cultural Revolution Periods
（大陸文革與文革後高校入學方式比較）
The role of education in developing both a just and an efficient society has long been a controversial issue (Inkeles, 1975). In China, this debate over social equity and economic growth has varied from time to time according to the ideology of those in political power. The central argument developed in this chapter is that in China, family background has continued to affect one's educational opportunity and inequality has resulted regardless of the state's intervention in university admissions policies. This chapter will first describe the college entrance systems during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and post-Cultural Revolution (1977-present ) periods. Next the paper will examine the effects of these two sets of admission policies on the distribution of Chinese university students according to their family backgrounds or social class. Further, this treatise will discuss the strong influence of family background on one's educational opportunities, regardless of different state interventions in universit y admissions. Finally, the chapter will conclude that social inequality in higher education has been maintained both during the Cultural Revolution and in the post-Cultural Revolution periods.
This chapter focuses on the relationship of admissions policies to the unequal social class distribution of university students in China. Equal access to education is defined here as "the provision of similar educational facilities for all students at least up to the age of labor market entry," which is generally age thirteen (Levin, 1976). After that age, further education would depend on previous educational achievement and personal choice. In a Marxist view, where there is equal educational opportunity, there should not be any social classrelated factors to prevent students of lower-class origins from taking advantage of higher education ( Zhuang, 1987). Even though higher education is restricted to students with certain levels of academic achievement, all students nonetheless have the opportunity to compete for admission to a university.
Definition of Terms
Some terms need to be specified to understand them in their proper context. This background information will provide a useful frame of reference.
Family Background. Traditionally, the Chinese communist government has divided the population into three broad classes; 1) landlords/capitalists, 2) intellectuals, and 3) workers/peasants. The first group consists of those who were landlords, rich peasants, industrialists and capitalists before the communist takeover in 1949. "Intellectuals" refer to those well-educated people engaged in cultural work: artists, musicians, teachers, university professors, etc. Workers and peasants are manual laborers and comprise the largest category, including over 80% of the population (Whyte, 1975). The party cadres (i.e., communist party members) and soldiers closely identify themselves with peasants and workers. They have benefited from "affirmative action" in China since 1949 (Shirk, 1982).
Selection System. There have been two divergent systems used in university admissions in China over the past forty years, depending on the prevailing ideology. Different criteria were established during consecutive political eras. The "examination model" was invented along with the state universities or academies in China around 200 B. C. and had served as a tool for recruiting men for civil service positions until 1905 (Ho, 1962). During 1949-1966 and during the post-Cultural Revolution period (1977-present), Chinese universities recruited secondary school students upon graduation according to their test scores on the national standardized entrance exams. During 1970-1976, the "recommendation model" required students to have a minimum of two years work experience and academic qualifications equivalent to secondary schooling. All applicants, however, were selected by their work units according to individual political performance, work units according to individual political performance, work record, social/origin, and academic potential (Shirk, 1982; Wang, 1987).
The Cultural Revolution (or The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution). During 1966-1976 the educational system was attacked by Mao Zedong (Tse-tung) and his allies. The priority of Maoist leadership was economic and educational equity, which emphasized the rapid expansion of primary and secondary education (especially in the rural areas) rather than higher level training and research (Shirk, 1982). The political campaign and social movement which began in 1966 resulted in the closing of many higher education institutions and secondary schools. Students were enlisted in the Red Guard (as political revolutionaries and activists) to purge the society of political rightists and revisionists. When universities again opened in the early 1970s "new stress was placed on the study of Marxism, Leninism, and the Thought of Mao Zedong-that is, on political indoctrination ... which advocated the downgrading of academic elitism" (Clubb, 1978, pp. 149). A year after Mao's death in 1976, the pre-cultural Revolution admissions practices were restored. College entrance examinations were held on a provincial and municipal basis in 1977, and have been conducted on a national, unified basis subsequently since 1978.
Selection Systems During the Cultural Revolution
Before 1966, access to university education was based on an examination system, solely on academic criteria. However, during the Cultural Revolution, the college entrance examination system was abolished and political considerations prevailed. Chinese education policy began to place emphasis on political training, commitment to socialism, and practical work experience as qualifications for admission to a university. Higher education also emphasized the inclusion of previously underrepresented populations such as workers, peasant, and soldiers. In the early period of this movement (1966-1970), most tertiary (higher education) institutions did not recruit new students due to political turmoil. The college entrance examination system was abolished because it favored the children of bourgeois intellectuals and capitalists, excluding most candidates from worker/peasant families (Hawkins, 1983; Thomas, 1983). After 1970 the recommendation system started to enroll students according to "affirmative action policy" for workers and peasants, regardless of their intellectual aptitude and educational preparation. Social class became a major determinant for admission to higher education (Hawkins, 1983).
During this period, college applicants were no longer required to take entrance examinations. Instead, candidates who worked at least two years on a farm or in a factory were qualified to be recommended through their colleagues in the work unit or local party. The criteria for recommendation was based on work attitudes and political activism, rather than academic achievement. Children of workers, peasants, and soldiers had priority for recommendation and selection (Sobhe, 1982; Yao, 1984). Through this system, much more people from underrepresented worker/peasant family backgrounds gained the opportunity to go to college (Broaded, 1983). This was especially true at the beginning of the recommendation system.
Selection Systems During the Post-Cultural Revolution
After Mao's death in 1976, a new efficiency and quality oriented policy was favored again by the dominant leadership group. Consequently, one of the most important measures in re-organizing the education system after the Cultural Revolution was the restoration of the college entrance examination system. During this period educational policy emphasized meritocracy and used examinations for screening. Although examination scores were considered the most important criteria for selection, candidates were also required to pass political and physical screening in the first few years (Shirk, 1982). Later, performance in entrance examinations became the crucial determining factor, regardless of work experience and other previous requirements.
According to Wang (1987), there are four characteristics of Chinese college entrance examinations. The first one is the exam's predominant position in the college admission process, compared to the recommendation system used during the Cultural Revolution. The administration of national college entrance examinations has been regarded as an objective, impersonal, impartial, and reliable practice which can guarantee a candidate's intellectual ability. Because of this high regard the examination system has gained strong public support in China.
The second feature of the entrance exam system is its nationally unified pattern. In order to organize higher learning efficiently, and to standardize teaching programs in secondary schools throughout the country, China implemented unified examinations on a national basis. The third characteristic of the entrance exam system is its keen competition among the candidates. One of the reasons for this stiff compeition is the exam's low passing ratio relative to most of the other countries in the world. In 1978 about 4.7 million candidates sat for the exams, and only 28 thousand (one out of sixteen) were admitted to college (Bratton, 1979; Chang, 1982; Wang, 1987; Yao, 1984). In recent years, efforts have been made to reduce the keenness of competition. One way is to reduce the number of potential candidates; another is to increase college enrollment. However, competition is still keen due to a vast population of high school graduates.
The final characteristic is that the exam contents are "book-knowledge" oriented, only testing a candidate's knowledge of specific secondary curricula. This narrowly defined scope of exam content for university admission leads the lower schools, teachers, and students to focus on knowledge regarding exam subjects rather than on all-around development. In other words, they are motivated to gear classroom activities toward performance on the examinations.
Admission Criteria and Social Equity
China's two admissions policies systems (by recommendation or examination) have different outcomes with regard to social equity and discrimination in access to universities. Because of the strong emphasis on test scores and academic achievement, the college entrance examinations benefit children from intellectual family backgrounds most. The exam's strong linkage to the access to quality secondary education can produce patterns of admissions that are quite unfavorable to working-class children and rural residents in China, where educational resources are very unevenly distributed (Bratton, 1979; Kwong, 1983). Moreover this system can also disfavor those youths who engaged more in political activities than in school study. This is why the college exam system was criticized as being biased in favor of the bourgeois class. Children of urban intellectuals and officials received a disproportionate share of university admissions because of abilities they acquired from their parents and the advantage of attending better secondary schools in urban areas (Kwong, 1983; Shirk, 1982).
The recommendation system, on the other hand, has the ability to overcome these disadvantages because it gives consideration to class background and political commitment. However, in practice this system has favored children from worker and peasant backgrounds, as well as the children of party officials (Broaded, 1983; Shirk, 1982). The recommendation system can also balance the distribution of students from fural and urban backgrounds through entry quotas in every work unit.
Nevertheless, in implementing these affirmative action policies, the recommendation system was affected by some undesired bias in the selection process. The selection authorities were supposed to consider an applicant's family background as well as individual political commitment. However, vague and subjective standards made this lofty and artificial ideal of a strictly egalitarian educational policy unachievable in full (Shirk, 1982). A major criticism in the later years of the Cultural Revolution was that the use of students' commitment to socialism as a criterion for evaluation and recommendation became suspicious. It was very difficult to judge one's political commitment. In reality, favoritism was the prevailing criteria. The crucial recommendations by one's fellow workers and the administrative leaders (especially the latter) were difficult to obtain. To get a recommendation meant to gain favor with the administrators in the work unit. As a result, by the mid-seventies favoritism ("going through the back door," corruption, bribery, etc.) became widespread. A student's relationship with his administrators and coworkers, and his parents' occupations and family connections all became crucial factors in being admitted to a university. Thus, more and more of the students who were recommended and admitted were children of top-level party officials rather than those from disadvantaged family backgrounds. Although some of the party cadres were from worker/peasant background, they were a small group compared to the large number of ordinary workers and peasants. Attending a university thus became the privilege of those with political power (Kwong, 1983).
The direct correlation between commitment to socialism and qualification to higher education was also questionable. Universities should theoretically recruit students based on the merits of their academic preparation rather than merely on their political ideology (Kwong, 1983). This policy of abandoning exam scores and discriminating against students from intellectual family background effectively denied access to some well-prepared candidates. On the other hand, many students with poor academic preparation were admitted because of their "red" family background (i.e., party member connections). In an effort to produce equity, the state was over-emphasizing the requirement of worker/peasant family background. Even if an applicant from an intellectual family declared him- or her-self as a worker after spending many years in a factory, his/her family connection was still suspected by hisher work unit leader. Therefore, an intellectual's chance of being recommended to a tertiary institution was minimal, regardless of his/her work performance and academic achievement.
In short, without an objective standard of selection or a strict set of academic qualifications required by universities, the quality of staff and students declined during the Cultural Revolution (Hawkins, 1983; Thomas, 1983; Yao, 1984). Initial egalitarian intentions about equality in Chinese higher education for workers and peasants thus were not achieved.
Effects of the Selection System on Student Background
The abolition of entrance examinations was supposed to make universities more accessible to peasants and workers during the Cultural Revolution. However, did the recommendation system really benefit those workers and peasants? Were more of them admitted to universities during this period? In the early 1970s there was relative growth in the number of students from worker or peasant families admitted to tertiary institutions. At Northwestern University in Xi'an, for example, 42% of students were reported to be from worker families and 35% to be of peasant origin in 1973. At Beijing University 80-90% of students were reported to be from worker or peasant family backgrounds in 1973-1974 (White, 1981). According to another report which took a content analysis of articles from the Renmin Ribao (People's Daily) during 1971, 1975 and 1978, there were many students from worker, peasant, and soldier backgrounds from 1971 to 1975 (Broaded, 1983). Table 1 summarizes students' social backgrounds.
The data from 1971 and 1975 provide some support for the recommendation policy rationale for increasing access by workers and peasants to the university during the Cultural Revolution (Broaded, 1983). However, it is hard to apply these data to the numbers of actual workers and peasants. As Ann Kent suggests, many students were children of the privileged party cadre, who spent two or three years in the countryside before coming to universities (Kent, 1981). Further, many students classified as being from a peasant background in the mid 1970s were probably the "sent-down youth" ("Xiafang qingnian"), who originally lived in urban areas and were sent to the countryside to do physical labor. After working in rural areas for several years, they were then re-classified as peasants. This group comprised a large proportion of all university students (Bratton, 1979; Broaded, 1983).
Table 1
Students' social background prior to university admissions
Note: Figures calculated by the author are percentages of student population cited from Broaded, C.M. (1983). Higher education policy changes and stratification in China. China Quarterly (93).
* means "educated youth" ("zhishi qingnian" 知識青年), who were junior and senior high school graduates and were sent down to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution.
However, this trend changed after the re-institution of college entrance examinations in 1977 (i.e., during the post-Cultural Revolution period). The proportion of students from intellectual family backgrounds (especially party officials), who were admitted to tertiary institutions steadily increased and has even become the dominant population in many universities since then (Bratton, 1979; Kwong, 1983; Sidel, 1982; White, 1981). According to Table 1, the percentage of students with intellectual backgrounds increased from 0.9% in 1971, and 15% in 1975, to 43% in 1978. Although one may not generalize these findings to the rest of the student population because of the small sample size (n=250), the percentage of students from intellectual backgrounds did increase after the re-institution of the exam system in 1977. Nevertheless, in Chinese official government statements one can hardly see any record of university students' social backgrounds, As a Chinese journalist mentioned:
In the wake of the disappearance of classes as entities over the vast land of China, 'family background' has gradually lost its original meaning ...Who knows how many outstanding descendants 【of China】have suffered discrimination, oppression, and even torture on account of their 'family background'? (Cai, 1985, pp. 1-2).
Therefore, it is difficult to resolve the problems of releasing the family it is difficult to resolve the problems of releasing the examination system after 1977. According to an attitude survey of 653 respondents in Shanghai, the opportunity for students from various family backgrounds to enter universities differed substantially. Most respondents believed that children from intellectual or party official family backgrounds had more than a 70% chance to go to college, while those from worker and peasant backgrounds only had a 25% chance (Zhuang, 1987). Although perceptions of access to higher education may be different from the actual facts regarding student family backgrounds, these attitudes may reflect the reality of educational inequality in Chinese society. Other research shows that 80% of Chinese graduate students (from Mainland China) in Los Angeles come from intellectual family backgrounds in China's urban and coastal areas. The respondents estimated that around 70-80% of their university classmates came from intellectual and party official families (Chou, 1989). This percentage may be even higher. Other research involving interviews of 30 students and graduates in China has found that almost all (n=29) were from intellectual and party official family backgrounds (Kwong, 1983).
Since access to higher education depends on the college entrance examinations, academic performance plays a crucial part. Given China's unequal distribution of educational resources, children from intellectual and party cadre family backgrounds have greater chances for higher education than those from worker and peasant backgrounds.
Summary and Conclusion
According to Marxist theory social background should not affect one's educational opportunity. However in China, during the last four decades of Marxist Socialism family backgrounds have continued to influence a citizen's chances to gain access to higher education: there is still a large amount of inequality in access to quality schooling and high status occupations (Zhuang, 1987). Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the great debate over equity and growth has been highly controversial (Hawkins, 1983; Yao, 1984). Education has always been regarded as one of the important tools to achieve national goals. However, family background still affects educational opportunity, producing inequality despite state intervention in university enrollment processes. Social inequalities in higher education have remained both during and after the Cultural Revolution. The recommendation system used during the Cultural Revolution initially favored worker and peasant children for the purpose of compensating the deprived and oppressed classes. But this system deteriorated due to pervasive corruption and lack of an objective standard, creating "new inequalities" based on political rather than academic criteria.
After 1977 the Chinese government shifted its national policies to economic development, emphasizing efficiency. The new examination system only rewards academic achievement and merit, providing an avenue to tertiary education which is far more favorable to students from intellectual backgrounds. This examination system measures not only the level of training acquired in schools but also knowledge, training, and social skills acquired in the family setting (Bernstein, 1977). With coaching and support from parents, students of intellectual families perform better on the examination and hence progress further in the educational system. Thus they are rewarded with better future life opportunities. Students of worker/peasant background who are less prepared for schooling than their counterparts from intellectual and party cadre families do not perform as well on the entrance examinations and thus have little chance to go to college. As a result the examination system not only maintains but even enhances the in itial inequality between the intellectual/cadre families and those with worker/peasant social origins.
In conclusion, both social equity and economic growth have played conflicting roles consecutively in Chinese higher education for the past four decades. Different national goals have resulted in widely different objectives for education, varying from social engineering and political commitment to academic achievement and economic progress. One's family background still affects his/her access to higher education. The government needs policies which will balance the conflict of social equity and economic growth, while maintaining a high quality of education and providing more opportunities to people from various family backgrounds. Educational inequality will continue to plague Chinese society until this dilemma is resolved.
(Source: UCLA Journal of Education, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1990. pp.1-13)
References
Berstein, B. (1977). Class and pedagogies: Visible and invisible. In J. Karabel & A. H. Halsey (eds.). Power and ideology in education. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 511-534.
Bratton, D.(1979). University admission policies in China, 1970-1978. Asian survey, 19, 1008-1022.
Broaded, C. M. (1983). Higher education policy changes and stratification in China. China Quarterly, 93, 125-137.
Cai, Y. (1985, April 8). Cut off the pigtail. Guangzhou Yangcheng Wanbao (Guangdong Paper on family background issue in Chinese), pp. 1-2.
Chang, J. (ed.).(1982). China education yearbook, Beijing: Chinese Encyclopedia Publishing Co.
Chou, C.P. (1989, June). Parental influence and educational achievement: How Chinese students perceive their success at school. Paper presented at the VIIth World Congress of Comparative Education, Montreal, Canada.
Clubb, O.E. (1978). Twentieth century China. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hawkins, John. N. (1983). Education and social change in the People's Republic of China. New York: Praeger Publishers.
Ho, P.T. (1962). The ladder of success in imperial China. New York: Columbia University Press.
Inkeles, A. (1975). The emerging social structure of the world. World Politics, 4.
Kent, A. (1981). Red and expert: The revolution in education at Shanghai Teacher's University: 1975-1976. China Quarterly, 86.
Kwong, J. (1983). Is every one equal before the system of grades: Social background and opportunities in China. The British Journal of Sociology, 34, 93-108.
Levin, H.M.(1976). Educational opportunity and social inequality in Western Europe. Social Problems, 24, 148-172.
Sidel, M. (1982). University enrollment in the People's Republic of China, 1977-1981: The examination model returns. Comparative Education, 18, 257-269.
Shirk, S.L. (1982). Competitive comrades. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sobhe, K. (1982). Education in revolution: Is Iran duplicating the Chinese Cultural Revolution? Comparative Education, 18, 270-280.
Thomas, M.(1983). The two Chinas: A prologue. In T. Thomas & T. N. Postlethwaite (eds.). Schooling in East Asia New York: Pergamon Press. pp. 87-103.
Wang, Y. (1987). The college entrance examination system in the People's Republic of China. Unpublished master's thesis. University of California, Los Angeles.
White, G. (1981). Higher education and social re-distribution in a socialist society: The Chinese case. World Development, 9.
Whyte, M.K. (1975). Inequality and stratification in China. China Quarterly, 84, 684-711.
Yao, R.B. (1984). Zhong Guo Jiao Yu: 1949-1982. [Education in China: 1949-1982]. In Chinese. Hong Kong: Hua Fong Publishing Co.
Zhuang, J. (1987, November). People's perceptions of access to education: The case of the People's Republic of China. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Educational Society Annual Conference, University of California, Los Angeles.
(Acknowledgements: This paper was prepared at the UCLA Graduate School of Education. The author gratefully acknowledges Frank Ryan for his numerous editorial comments during the revisions of the manuscript from September to October, 1989.)
Chapter 3
A Comparative Study of Male and Female
Faculty Income in Taiwan
（台灣地區男女大學教師收入比較研究）
Abstract
This study examined the total income for university faculty members in Taiwan. Gender differences were found and further research was conducted to identify reasons for the discrepancies in the academic reward system.
The research project was based on a national sample provided by the Computer Center of the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. Data were collected through survey questionnaires and in-depth interviews with university professors and associate professors in Taiwan. Multiple regression analyses were inplemented to determine the influence of gender of income. In-depth interviews were conducted to collect possible explanations for gender differences in the academic reward system.
The major findings of this research study are as follows:
1. Compared to male faculty members, women academics tend to earn a lower total income.
2. Social networking in academe tends to result in a higher income for male than for female faculty.
3. Domestic duties have more negative impacts on male income than that of females.
4. Interviews revealed that the male faculty tend to be less aware of gender differences and inequities in the academic reward system.
Introduction
As a result of affirmative action in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, one might expect that women had made substantial progress in achieving equity in academe (Finkelstein,1984a; Simeone, 1987). While there has been an increase in hiring new femal doctorates as faculty members, women still hold only about 28% of all faculty positions, tend to be concentrated in "traditionally female" fields, earn approximately $6,000 less than men, hold positions one fourth or one fifth of a step lower in rank, and play a lesser role in administration and governance than their male counterparts in all universities (Finkelstein, 1984b; Chamberlain, 1988; Watkins, 1990; Strohm, 1990; Astin, 1991).
In Taiwan, women make up the largest proportion of teachers from kindergarten to senior high school, while men hold higher administrative positions. In 1990, for example,women constituted approximately 55% of the teacher population in middle and elementary schools,but made up only 28% of university faculty members (see Table 1). More specifically, they accounted for 9% of the professors, 18% of the associate professors, 40% of the instructors, and53% of the teaching assistants (Ministry of Education, 1991). This rank distribution for female faculty indicates that: 1) academe is still a male-dominated occupation; 2) the higher the rank, the fewer women at that rank (Yao, 1983).
In fact, the Taiwan government has enforced policies such as "equal pay for equal work" and a centralized and fixed salary system across all fields of specialty (Ministry of Education, 1991). Nevertheless, gender bias still exists within universities in Taiwan(Sha, 1987). For example, with respect to total income, female faculty members earn about$120,000 in New Taiwan dollars (or $4,000 in U.S. dollars) less per year than their male counterparts regardless of field, rank, degree, or administrative position (Lin, 1987). Female faculty members also hold very few administrative positions in Taiwan. Women do not head any university; they comprise 3% of treasury directors, 1% of college deans, 5% of graduate deans, and 9% of department chairs (Hsu, 1990).
One may speculate that as a result of having so few women in administrative positions, the issue of gender differences in the academic reward system continues to be neglecte and rarely discussed despite Taiwan's great efforts and emphasis on social equity an equal opportunities in the development of human resources.
Table 1
Female teachers at all levels, 1990-91
* At universtities and four-year colleges, women faculty comprise approximately 28% in early 90's.
Source: Statistical indicator of education, the Republic of China (1991) and Educational statistics of, the Republic of China (1991), Taipei: Ministry of Education.
Review of related literature
Research on the Academic Reward System
According to Tuckman (1979), the academic reward system consists of at least four categories of rewards and leads to increasing monetary compensation, social prestige, and career opportunities. These four categories are: 1) the institutional salary; 2) the non-material rewards of personal satisfaction (such as feedback from students and recognition from peers); 3) promotion to a higher rank due to professional merits and accomplishments in research, teaching, and service; and 4) optional access to career advancement in administration, to research grants and private consulting, and to opportunities of recreuitment by private corporations or by the government. These four forms of rewards are by no means mutually exclusive, although some of them are difficult to verify and measure.
Among these rewards, salary is the most frequently investigated. For example, prior research found that years of experience, along with years of schooling, productivity, and gender, are significant predictors of faculty salary (Finklestein, 1984b). With years of schooling and experience held constant, female faculty earn 15 to 25% less than males with the same characteristics (Reagan & Maynard, 1974; Hoffman, 1976). An unconscious devaluation of women's role in the academic market is found to contribute to the salary discrepancies between men and women. As finklestein reports, over fifty major studies conducted during the last decade come to the same conclusion: the salary structure in the United Stated differs significantly for men and women. The latter are paid less ever after partialling out the effects of rank, type of institution, and field of study. This income disparity between men and women academics continues to increase throughout their academic career (Finklestein, 1984a).
Theoretical Framework for Gender Differences in the Academic Reward System
In order to construct a theoretical framework to account for reward differentials between male and female faculty, the investigator summarized prior research findings into the following two categories: 1) overt discrimination as a result of gender; and 2) differential performance between men and women.
1. Overt Discrimination Based on Gender:
The following studies argue that academe has a double standard, which underestimates women's performance and rewards them less favorably than men (Kahn & Robbins, 1985).
1) Gender Role Stereotypes and Lack of Comparable Worth:
Many employers assume that women will be inconsistent participants in the labor force due to family obligations. As a result, they tend to reward women less than they do men in salary, rank and promotion (John & Stafford, 1974; Farber, 1977). In a study of faculty salaries at the University of Michigan, Fox (1981) incorporates an "ideology of achievement" framework into her analysis. Since American society emphasizes "achievement" to a great extent, people are supposed to be rewarded according to their ability and performance at work regardless of gender. However, while achievements are the income indicator, a dual reward structure between men and women legitimated by achievement ideology exists. Consequently, men and women do not receive "comparable income" for comparable achievenment in academe.
2) Institutional Discrimination:
Academe, like other professions, has its hierarchical arrangements, culture, and credentialism. Since male faculty have been the majority in this profession, their work constitutes the main body of the literature, their access to resources is greater, and the current academic reward system has evolved over time according to their needs in the community (Finkelstein, 1984a). As a result, academic structure reinforces men's predominant culture, and under-estimates women's contributions to the profession.
3) The Oldboy Network and Interpersonal Relationships:
The "oldboy network" is a term referring to informal interaction among peers (Mitchell,1987). In academe, this network provides information exchange, collaboration, career planning,strategizing and assistance. It also provides professional and psychological support, and access to visiblity and upward mobility (Welch, 1980; Green, 1982). Research reveals that both male and female faculty members tend to include more colleagues/friends of the same gender in their informal networks. Since male faculty members constitute the majority, they have greater access to the oldboy network, they have greater access to the oldboy network, and benefit from information exchange. Whereas, famale faculty members are relatively disadvantaged in this regard (Lewis, 1975, Simeone, 1987).
2. Differential Performance Between Men and Women:
Differential performance between man and women can be attributed to three main sources: 1) different early socialization; 2) different educational background and training; and 3) different social and cultural constraints on career pursuit between man and women.
1) Personal Choice:
Prior studies suggest that women's status in academe is more or less a matter of choice (Bernard, 1964; Johnson & Stafford, 1979). Most women choose family life over career as their first priority, and reduce job participation during the child-rearing years. As a result, they tend to have a shorter career, a lower average productivity, and lower salaries compared to men (Johnson & Stafford, 1979).
2) Different Educatioinal Background and Training:
Women are socialized to be more oriented to the teacher's than the scholar's role. Females are taught to be more concerned with socio-emotional (nurturing) aspects such as working with students rather than on research and publication (Bayer, 1973; Finkelstelin, 1985b). Bernard (1964) calls this reward gap women's "status channel inconsistency." That is, although there are many channels for upward mobility in academe, women tend to emphasize channels which are not highly valued and hard to justify, such as teaching or working with students rather than research and publication.
In addition, women appear to be less involved in off-campus professional or social activities (Bayer, 1973; Morlock, 1973; Cameron, 1978). This lack of outside campus professional and social participation results in women's lower rate of colleagueship, collaboration, and authorship. Moreover, with respect to paid-consulting, women academics are only two-thirds of the number of men who engage in such activities (Bayer, 1973).
3) Different Social and Cultural Constraints Over Women's Career Pursuit:
Marriage and family obligations are considered two major constraints which influence women's pursuit of academic careers. Married female faculty members experience more role conflicts between work and family than male and unmarried female faculty (Herman & Gyllstrom, 1977; Koester & Clark, 1980). Many academic women complain about the tensions of time management. Studies show that female faculty members are found to spend 50 to 100% more time in home maintenance (Gappa, et.al., 1979), and 40% less time in academic work than their male counterparts (Herman & Gyllstrom, 1977).
The Academic Reward System for Taiwan's University Faculty
Total income is selected as the only indicator of academic reward in this study. Specifically, the remuneration for full-time university teachers is divided into two parts: salary and allowances. The former differs in accordance with positions, concurrent administrative work, and professional experience. The latter includes research, food, and housing allowances. In addition, a research subsidy fund has been set up under the National Science Council of the Executive Yuan for those who wish to conduct specific research projects.The pay scale for public university teachers is fixed according to the salary scale for public functionaries, and based on twelve-month employment (Lu, 1986; Ministry of Educaiton,1991). Each rank has at least ten different salary levels (see the Appendix). The higher the rank, the greater the difference between each point on the scale. For example, professors in the highest scale sometimes receive 3-4 times as much as the incoming teaching assistants (Lin, 1987).
It is believed that in addition to the fixed institutional salaries, outside income is also an imprtant indicator of academic rewards. Since Taiwan is actively recruiting experts and professionals, many faculty members are offered paidconsultations by outside business enterprises. It is very difficult to track down the amount of outside income since most people will not release this information. Nevertheless, the accumulation of institutional and outside income serves as the basis for this variable.
According to a nation-wide survery on the appointment and compensation of the university and college faculty members in Taiwan (Lin, 1987), institutional income differences are found to be associated with type of institution, rank, higher level administration, degree, age, seniority, and gender.
Another field study on Taiwan's femals faculty (N=100) indicates that no discrimination was found among university teachers with respect to the formal academic structur, such as, employment, salary, and promotion (Hsu, 1988). However, subtle forms of gender discrimination do exist and continue to affect people in every work setting. In order to overcome gender's negative impact, female faculty need to excel by upgrading their personal qualifications through degress, research publications, and in-service training (Chang, 1988).
Research Design
All the data in this study were collected through survey questionnaires and in-depth interviews.
Sample Description
Subjects were all full and associate university professors from a national date-set in Taiwan. This data-set collected by the Computer Center of the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan included 2,649 professors, and 3,153 asscoiate professors in 1990.The total number of full and associate professors was 5,802. Female faculty account for 14% of this population.
Since the target population in this study is current professors and associate professors, all females were drawn from the data-set (N=827), and a comparable number of males (N=827) were also selected from the same data-set by stratified sampling based on their institutions. The two waves of mailing to 1,654 faculty returned 740 valid questionnaires with a response rate of 45%. According to a conversation with Dr. Lin, the chairman from the Psychology Department at Chengchi University, who has also conducted many surverys among university faculty in Taiwan, the typical response rate is approximately 20%. An other national survey on university and colege faculty members aslo received a response rate of 42%－or 32% valid survey response in two mailings (Lin, 1987). Therefore, the response rate of this survey research (45%) is considered adequate for analysis.
In addition, twenty-three faculty members took part in in-depth interviews. Nine men and 14 women form nine campuss throughout the country were recommended by other faculty for interviews.
Study Variables
The dependent variables used in this study was the total monthly income combining the institutional salary and outside payment. The former is presumed to be fixed (Lin, 1987). The latter derives from sources such as outside paid consultations, off-campus research grants, and so forth.
The independent variables are as follows:
a) Demographic characteristics consist of gender, age, family origin, father's education, marital status, spouse's occupation, and number of children.
b) Educational background include the highest degree earned, the field of study, and the country where the highest degree was earned.
c) Work activities and experiences deal with academic rank, administrative position, career interruptions due to family responsibilities, seniority (years of experience in academe), primary research endeavor, community service, time spent on teaching per week;time spent on research per week, time spent on household duties per week, research productivity,and the type of current institution.
Supplementary information regarding personal experiences and opinions was obtained by in-depth interviews.
Research Ouestions and Hypotheses
The study was an attempt to answer the following question: Does the total income differ between male and female faculty members when their demographic characteristics, educational background, and work/activity experience variables are controlled?
A specific hypothesis based on the preceding question is: After controlling for the demographic characteristics, educational background, and work activities and experiences, female faculty members receive a lower total income than their male counterparts.
Results
Determinants for Total Income
In this study the dependent variable, total income, was a continuous variable, combining one's on- and off-campus income. As mentioned before, the institutional income was regulated and fixed according to different ranks. As a result, other income generated from individual off-campus sources or projects contributed to income discrepancies among people of the same rank.
The stepwise multiple regression procedures for the entire sample were carried out in the following manner. Twelve independent variables, as described below, were entered into the analysis to determine which factors were significantly (at p<.05) related to the amout of total income. In order to control for (or partial out) the effects of other predictors, gender was forced last into the regression equation. The independent variables were entered in stepwise fashion:
spousal occupation (in academe or not, dichotomous)
highest degree earned (Ph. D. or not, dichotomous)
academic rank (professor or not, dichotomous)
higher level administration (yes or no, dichotomous)
years of experience (seniority, continuous)
working alone (yes or not, dichotomous)
community service (yes or no, dichotomous)
time spent on teacing (continuous)
total number of books and articles (continuous)
type of institution (public or not, dichotomous)
gender (female or not, dichotomous, last entered)
The above variables were selected because they had been reported to be associated with the dependent variable accordinng to the literature and had higher zero-order correlation coefficients.
Predictors were grouped into two blocks. Beginning with the first block, a stepwise selection was applied entering the preceding ten independent variables. When the first stage is completed, the analysis proceeds to the second stage where only the gender variable was entered (Padhazur, 1982). Gender was entered last in stepwise fashion in order to determine what its additional predicting power would be once the effect of other independent variables had been partialled out.
Table 2 showed the results of the analysis for total income. Of the twelve predictor variables selected for the analysis, ten entered the multiple regression at the statistically significant level (p<.05). The final R- square of .36 indicated that 36% of the variance in total income could be explained by the variables that entered the equation.
Table 2
Significant variables of total income for all faculty members
R=.60, N=579
Note: All the predictors were statistically significant at p<.05.
*Beta at the last step.
**Zero-order correlation between the dependent variable and each of the independent variables.
What factors predicted for a higher total income? The most significant predictors for both genders were: a higher rank (professor), a non-academic spouse, higher administrative positions, number of publications, shorter employment, employed in a public institution,not working alone, teaching less, and engaging in community service. After partialling out the effects of all other significant predictors, gender (female) entered the regression as negative predictor (t=-3.65, p<.01). Gender which had a negative correlation with total income (r=-.32) had and added 2% in variation change after the effects of all other preceding variables were held constant.
Specifically, the common method of income determination in academe involved the use of salary levels within ranks. Even though the outside income comprised a certain proportion of the income differences in this study, rank served as a basis for the institutional salary. Both of them have been shown to be highly correlated (Folger, et. al., 1980;Astin & Bayer, 1972 and 1979; Gordon, et. al., 1974; Astin and Snyder, 1982). As expected, the most significant predictor of income was the professor rank (beta=.38), which accounted for 22% of the variance in income (p<.01) indicating that the higher the rank (professor), the higher the total income.
It is interesting to see that having a spouse who also worked in academe did not enhance one's income (beta=-.11). The results were quite opposite to Astin's findings which indicates that women faculty who marry an academic spouse will benefit from information exchange and networking; thus, they will have more access to resources for mobility and higher incomes (Astin & Bayer, 1979). However, this was not the case in this study, in part because academic mobility was relatively rare compared to the United States. Both husband and wife as academics might be more interested in teaching and research rater than engaging in off-campus activities or administrative positions which would contribute to more monetary rewards. The other possibility was that within this double income family (spouse was also working as academic), one might be less motivated to work for extra money since both work full-time. However, this assumption could not be further justified given the lack of information about the working or non-working spouse.
In addition, being in a higher level administrative position enhanced one's income(r=.28, beta=.13). Because of the position, faculty members would not only get extra payment from the job, but also hasd access to decision making and more resources.
Prior studies have reported that research productivity is associated with salary(Carnegie Commission, 1973; Astin & Bayer, 1979; Astin & Snyder, 1982; Bouillon, 1987; Astin & Snyder, 1992). However, in this study, the total number of books and articles were grouped to increase the variability of the sample since many subjects did not have any publications. In the analysis, the total number of books and articles was entered as a significant predictor of toal income (r=.32, beta=.10). It added 2% of the R-square change indicating that the higher the total number of publications, the higher the total income.
The zero-correlation between years of experience (seniority) and total income is positive and moderate (r=.12). However, seniority entered the regression as a negative predictor in the regression equation (beta=-.11). In other words, higher seniority in academe did not necessarily result in higher income in Taiwan. Why is this the case? After exammining the regression table, the answer was quite obvious. seniority became negative(partial r=.10) once rank (professor) entered the regression equation. In other words, those who did not advance to the professor rank did worse in total income. Those people tend to be around for a long period of time, but never achieved the professor rank. This is probably the reason seniority entered as a negative predictor of income after the effect of rank was taken into consideration.
Furthermore, faculty members currently employed in a public institution tend to have a higher total income (beta=.10). Salarywise, faculty members both from public and private universities are supposed to have comparable institutional income. However, public universities in Taiwan are sponsored by the government. They are not only considered more prestigious but are also financially better-off. The private institutions, on the other hand, can rely only on their limited resources, such as tuition and private donations. Consequently, faculty from public institutions tend to have more oportunities and access to resources and extra income.
As expected, the estblishment of networking was critical to information exchange and opportunities. In the analysis, working alone entered the regression as a negative predictor (beta=-.11). People who worked alone without any social network would have a lower income (r=-.12). On the other hand, working with colleagues rather than in isolation facilitated one's networking procedure; hence, it would empower one with more opportunities, including having a higher total income.
The correlation between hours spent in teaching and total income was moderately negative (r=-.18). The more hours one spent on teaching per week, the less likely he/she would earn more. Nevertheless, though this variable entered into the regression equation, it did not contribute much to the variation change of the total R-square.
Engagement in community service (including paid-consultations) is a method of increasing one's income. Since engagement in community service entered as an important predictor (beta=.09), those who dealt with community service were more likely to have a higher income.
One of the major purposes of this study is to examine whether gender differences continue to exist after the impact of other variables are partialled out. In the analysis, gender entered the regression with a negative coefficient (beta=-.14) and contributed a 2% variation change to total income after all other independent varables to total income after all the other independent variables were held constant. Since female was codified as 1 and male as 0, females, as hypothesized earlier, tend to have a lower total income than their male counterparts after controlling for the effects of variables such as academic rank, spousal occupation, supervisory administrative position and so forth.
In the analysis above, time spent in household duties was not included because it was highly correlated with gender (r=.52). It is reasonable to say that women spent more time in domestic work. In another analysis, time spect in household duties was included and entered the regression equation as a significant predictor (beta=-.13, t=-3.5, p<.01). However, once gender was entered in the regression analysis, the effect of hours of household duties no longer reached significance (t=-1.28, t>.05). As a matter of fact, for both genders, the income trade-off existed between fulfilling domestic obligations and academic engagement. Above all, being a woman was a more signifficant variable at predicting a lower income. There is no doubt that gender's effect would take off and suppress the household influence on income.
It is interesting that variables such as a doctoral degree and natural sciences did not make significant additional contributions in the regression equations because the correlations of both variables were very minimal (r=.09 and .11 respectively).
In summary, the results indicate that those who were in a higher academic rank,assumed higher level administrative positions, published more books and articles, worked in a public institution, or engaged in community service were more likely to have a higher total income. On the other hand, those who married an academic spouse, stayed longer in academe, worked alone, or taught more would have a lower total income. Above all, female faculty members had a lower total income than their male coounterparts even after demographic, educational, and work variables were taken into consideration.The hypothesis then was supported and gender differences in total income still prevailed in Taiwan's academic reward system.
Since gender differences in total income have been confirmed, it is worth investigating how women differ from their male counterparts. In other words, what variable predicts income within each population (men and women). Two stepwise multiple regression analyses were carried out separately for each sex as follows. The same set of independent variables as in the preceding analysis plus hours in househould duties excluding gender were entered in the analysis (see Table 3).
Table 3
Significant variables of total income by gender
R=.57 and R2=.33 for male, N=284.
R=.49 and R2=.24 for female, N=295.
Note: All the predictors were statistically significant at p<.05, and were listed by order entered in the regression.
* Beta at the last step.
In predicting one's total income, a final R-square of .22 for males and .24 for females was obtained. In order to earn a higher salary, certain characteristics were critical for males as well as for females (see Table 3). A higher rank, community service, and publications were all significant variables for both genders.
Working alone without a social network affected men's income negatively (beta=-.20). In other words, working with colleagues rather than indivadual engagement on research was very crucial for men. Men were more likely to broaden their social network and to increase their income through team work.
The fact that hours spent on teaching and household duties entered the analysis for man but not for women had some interesting implications. In other words, these two variables had less variability within the female sample than the male one. Men received more negative impacts from taking on more teaching and household responsibilities. It appears that women's engagement in thses two activites were usually taken for granted and the impact was not as easily visible. Furthermore, women, on the average, spent more time in teaching (19 hours) and house work (18 hours) compard to men (15 and 7 hours respectively) per week. Since most men engaged less in these two activities, those who were more involved would become more visible. These male faculty might be more concerned for their family and students, and less ambitious in making money. Or they might feel sufficient in family income since their wife was also working (as an academic). Above all, the trade-off for these men was that they had less time for research, administration, and other community services; as a consequence, they earned less.
For men, the variable, years of experience (seniority), entered as a negative predictor of income (beta=-.22). For them, the longer employment in academe did not necessarily render a higher income. Again, seniority became negative (partial r=-.15) only after rank(professor) entered the regression equation. Those men who stayed for a longer time in the current level were less likely to advance to the professor rank and did worse in total income.
Publication of books and articles contributed 3% of the variation change; it indicates that research productivity was very important to facilitate men's total income. Engaging in community service, on the other hand, entered the regression equation with a minimal influence on the R-square change.
Finally, there was moderate correltion between women's income and their administrative positions (r=.18), though this variable did not enter the equation as a significant predictor.
In summary, it was more likely for both genders to obtain a higher salary through a higher academic rank, higher number of publication records, and by engaging in community service. Participating in team work rather than individual dedication to research was essential for men to enhance social networking and income. In general women tend to work on their own and remained isolated from the "old-boy netwok." Above all, family obligations affected both men's and women's income to some extent, but the impact on men was far more visible.
Interviews
According to the interviews, gender differences are found to exist in Taiwan's academic reward system within which institutional salary is fixed and the equal opportunity for employment and promotion is regulated by the government. The reward system itself seems to be fair and objective; however, in practice, different attitudes toward men and women derived from cultural constraints have rooted in people's mind and distorted the fair implementation of the system. This is how women's careers in academe are affected by subtle gender discrimination. Another point is that women's lives are very much shaped by forces from different directions, the family influence in particular. In this regard, the present study seems to confirm the existing Western theories which account for such gender differences in academe from overt discrimination (as a result of gender) and different performance (as a result of life priority) between men and women.
As the interviews indicated, men and women actually experience differential treatments in academe which supports the survey finding. In addition to the gender factor, marriage is considered to facilitate men's academic caree, while inhibiting women's achievement in academe.
The interviews further explained why men tend to have better opportunities than women of comparable qualifications in this profession because: 1) as cultural constraints in history, men entered academe first and became the dominant group; 2) gender stereotypes prevail and continue in the real job setting; 3) the lack of comparable worth provides men with more legitimate opportunities for rewards; 4) women are less aggressive and confined by social roles dur to different socialization; 5) as a minority group, women are more likely to be excluded from the social network; 6) men and women have different life priorities, career for men and family responsibility for women; 7) the academic structure is euqal in its written forms except for its short of constructive guidelines and valid feedbacks; and 8) personal decision affects individual career development.
Based on the preceding findings, men in general are found to be less sensitive to gender differences in academe and experinece no inequality in rewards. They seem to believe that the system is equal and gender-free. On the other hand, women are not united in their opinions; some criticize the male-dominant culture; others attribute the gender inequality in the academic world to personal choice. It is natural that these diverse comments are based on personal experience and deserve interprettion with caution. In summary, the academic reward structure is fair in its written rules; however, in reality, women generally experience inequality due to various reasons.
Conclusions
The current study suggested that many questions remained to be answered. According to the study, male and female faculty members in Taiwan were rewarded differently in their total income. Men and women differed from each other with respect to background characteristics. People may argue that male and female faculty members were not rewarded the same as a result of the preceding differential. However, after controlling for individual factors which affect salaries (such as rank, administration, publication, seniority, type of institution, and working alone), it is possible to predict that being a woman means a lower total income.
Some research studies argue that the salary differentials can be explained in part by women's shorter time on the professional ladder (Chang, 1988). However, according to the study, there is no significuant difference between men and women in terms of their seniority though women are two years younger than men on the average. Others may argue that the gender differentials are a result of fewer female doctorates (Astin, 1979). In this study, women faculty were found to have fewer doctorates than their male counterparts, and yet when the impact of the doctoral degree in partiales out in the multiple regression analyses, women are still less rewarded in salary. Thus, seniority and the highest degree (doctorate) seem to be less the issue in explaining why men and women are rewarded differently in the study. In addition, one may argue that the reason women on the average have a lower income is because they are in the lower rank. However, after the effect of rank is eliminated in the analysis, female faculty still earn less than their male counterparts.
As the interview results suggest, men tend to have more access to higher administrative positions, to community services (though this was not confirmed by statistical data), and to social networks. Consequently, unlike the women, men are more visible in the field,receive more recognition and allowances from institutions, and have more presence in the decision-making process.
However, many interviewees in the study were reluctant to admit that the gender differentials are a result of sex discrimination in academe. Is this because as high achievers and successful applicants, these faculty members were less likely to experience any discrimination; or because it was too sensitive for them to relate to any forms of discrimination since many of them were in administrative positions? The answer is unknown.
Whether or not there is gender discrimination in Taiwan's academic reward system is still a question to be answered. Nevertheless, the fact that women, on the average, earn less is obvious. One thing that deserves attention is that the variable, total income, in the study represents the accumulative ammount of salaries from institution and outside sources. Since the latter constitute a certain proportion of one's income (unfortunately the percentge varies and remaines unknown) as a result of individual activities beyond institution, it is difficult to draw andy conclusion on the inequality of income rewards within the system. Despite this according to the interviews, it is fair to conclude that gender differentials in the academic reward system are attributable to the general social context due to the following phenomena: the uneven distribution of resources and opportunities between the majority and minority groups in academe, the different social expectations and cultural constraints between men and women, and personal decisions and preferences for life priorities.
（出處：國立政治大學「教育與心理研究」，民82，16期，475-500頁）
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APPENDIX
Salary Scale of the University Faculty in Taiwan
Salaries in Cash (monthly)
(Unit: NT$)Year: 1991
Source: Education in the Republic of China (1991), Taipei: Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Education, p. 24.
Chapter 4
A Study of Secondary Teachers' Daily
Activities in Taiwan
（台灣地區國中教師工作之研究）
Abstract
The current study examines daily teaching activities among junior high school teachers in Taiwan. The purpose is to investigate how teachers conduct their instruction and related activities in and outside the classroom, and the possible reasons behind their strategies. Classroom observations of 126 hours and interviews with 47 teachers from junior high schools were used for data collection. The findings are as follows:
1) As a result of the prevailing attitude of acquiring credentials in Taiwan, school teaching has been dominated by ways of cramming and indoctrination in secondary schools. Preparation for high school entrance exams has become the first priority of school teaching at the expense of cultivation for students' well-balanced development.
2) A teacher's daily schedule in junior high schools is usually very busy. Teachers' weekly classroom teaching hours are relatively short, but they have many other duties to fulfill during the entire school day. In the study, 80% of the teachers stayed at school over eight hours per day, working from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM. In addition to the required classroom instruction, 82% of them conduct a two-hour supplementary teaching after school every week. Seventy percent teach in a class of over forty students. Though the classroom teachers are released from a few hours of instruction, they are responsible for student counseling and classroom management.
3) With regard to the classroom instruction, it is found to be very teacher-oriented and teacher-centered. Most of the instructions are related to content development and tests.
4) Teachers' daily routines on correcting papers and grading examinations are very demanding after classroom instruction. The trade-off is that teachers become less likely to engage in class preparation and activities for professional growth.
5) Most teachers express their difficulty is in dealing with a class of diverse student learning backgrounds, especially under the current centralized educational policy, and obsession for acceptance to a good high school. Although class tracking is forbidden by the educational authority, in reality, this grouping system has come to exist in many campuses.
6) Teachers take on various roles beyond teaching. Classroom teachers, in particular, assume heavy student guidance duties. Dealing with student grades and behavioral problems have become the teachers' priority. The latter, for many teachers, is even more challenging than classroom instruction.
Introduction
Compulsory education has been extended to junior high school since 1968 in Taiwan. From that time, students receive a public education up to the ninth grade based on their residential district regardless of their different social and academic backgrounds. The instructions in junior high schools are guided by detailed national standards of a fixed curriculum. Across the entire island, students of the same grade are expected to learn the same materials in the same time frames with the help of the same textbook. The pace is undoubtedly too high or too low for some individuals, but the strict rule of national standardization works to systematically preserve a general level of equal opportunity in compulsory education (Rohlen, 1983).
As for teachers in junior high schools, classroom instruction is profoundly influenced by the required textbooks. Textbooks are the key vehicle for the presentation of the statements and the bulk of the information. Thus, examples of instructional independence of textbooks are rare, because the great majority teachers design their lectures with only entrance examinations in mind. A teacher's major job is to supplement and clarify the basic knowledge, keeping pace with the textbook in their lectures.
Because of the prevailing attitudes among junior high school students toward passing the exam for a good high school, which then will lead to access to the university, instruction has become a process of testing rather than providing a well-rounded education. As a result, students in the second or third year of junior high schools come to view their teachers merely as people whose job is to evaluate them by numerous exams rather than persons to help them grow and fulfill themselves. In the course of instruction, since the crucial force is to prepare for the entrance exam, teachers are required to disseminate information to students. Students are also expected to absorb the information for exams and remain passive in the classroom.
As a result of the great emphasis on examinations, educational problems, especially in the junior high school, have been brought to the attention of society during the last few years. Educational issues are discussed and debated over and over again, such as class tracking, the excessive use of study aids and exam papers, the endless practice exams, student discipline problems, and the increase of juvenile delinquency. In other words, preparation for high school entrance exams has become the only priority of school teaching which sacrifices students' mental and physical development. The debates over what causes the preceding problems in junior high schools have continued, especially in the era of Taiwan's education reform (Wang & Wang, 1994).
Literature Review
The examination culture and student problem
The Chinese examination system left its mark by maintaining a renewed form in the contemporary society of Taiwan. This tradition reinforces the value of scholarship and credentials as the preferred route to success. As Miyazaki discarded in his book entitled "China's Examination Hell" (1981), the impact of examination has been embedded in Chinese culture since ancient times. For example, studies show that the system of entrance examinations for high school exerts a pervasive influence over the whole nature of school environment (Hsieh, 1988; Tzeng, 1994). Classroom instruction has become the vehicle of passing high school entrance examinations, which then will lead to a better career path (Wang & Wang, 1994). In this competitive school environment, achievement on tests is more valued than learning.
As a result, many students become at risk if they perform poorly in the race of academic competition. For example, some of them sooner or later develop an inferiority complex, a severe sense of depression and failure (Mochizuki, 1990). Others' reaction is a sense of resentment and hostility toward teachers and school. For example, student discipline problems have been increasing recently and can be attributed to teacher ignorance of individual differences, student alienating experiences in the class, and the text-oriented lecture format of instruction which has much less utility for students who are not going to high school. The confusion and frustration increase with time, as do student problems. Moreover, the recent increasing problems of violence against teachers and schools is partly due to a much larger phenomenon derived from the process of academic competition (Juang, 1984).
Ethnography of Schooling
Despite the controversy taking place in secondary education, very few studies have been conducted on school sites, let alone any sophisticated or in-depth classroom observations. Without first-hand data, it is impossible to identify underlying causes for the instructional problems in junior high schools.
According to G. Spindle (Hsieh, 1988), classroom instruction is often regarded as a "black box," whose process is rarely known to the outside world. Only by the channel of school ethnography researchers can further access to the knowledge of teachers' daily life as well as their instructional strategy in the class. Through the comprehension of social context, (such as language and culture) and the instrument of observation or survey, one can conduct a longitudinal study on target subjects.
The researchers should remain neutral and objective when they administer interviews. In other words, ethnography of schooling is a method to first collect detailed information and the insider's viewpoint through a natural process. After transcribing and decoding the data, researchers will develop their study framework and research tools from an outsiders' perspective. Through classroom observation, interview, or survey, one can verify results with the original proposition. It is also a good way to discover hidden agendas in classroom activities (Good, 1982; Rag, 1995).
Time Use and Activities in Junior High Classes
Studies of class time use have been conducted in many ways, including individual student time on task, minutes and hours of instruction, classroom organization and allocation of time. Among the measures of time studies, time allocated to instruction has been shown to be significant and positively related to achievement (Borg, 1980; Sanford, 1982). The reason is that time allocation of different activities can be controlled directly by the teacher. Class time spent in different activities is a variable that teachers themselves can assess and manipulate in planning for instruction.
Class Lecture
Flanders (Kuo, 1985) points out that the teaching process can be described by the "Principle of Two thirds. " Specifically, in the average teaching activity, teachers are encouraged to converse with students two thirds of their class time. During the preceding conversation, teachers are advised to conduct two thirds of the time in lecturing. In the course of lectures, two thirds of it falls into the category of direct languages, including developing content, giving orders, and managing student discipline problems. The remaining time should be open to all students for comments and feedback, including any other forms of indirect dialogues. Other studies also indicate an effective teacher is the one who spends less time in direct language, and more time in two way communications with students (Hsu, 1982; Sun, 1985). Class discussion, in this respect, is considered an important strategy to stimulate students to become attentive, intelligent, critical and expressive (Ker, 1995; Garden, 1982a; Garden, 1982b).
Tracking
In Taiwan, many junior high school teachers feel frustrated in teaching a regular class due to the striking difference between students' learning motivation and abilities. Therefore, the tracking system exists on many campuses and provides a solution to the preceding problem in Taiwan.
According to Oakes (1985), tracking is the process whereby students are divided into categories so that they can be assigned in groups to various kinds of classes. The most common way in Taiwan is to classify students as academic or vocational oriented. Students, consequently, are placed into so called "good" or "average" classes on the basis of their grades or scores on ability tests.
Apparently, there are several reasons why tracking is welcome and exists widely though it is officially forbidden by the government. Many teachers and parents argue that students learn better when they are grouped with others at the same level of academic performance; the placement process for tracking can accurately and fairly reflect past achievements and native abilities of students; and it is much easier for teachers to accommodate individual differences in homogeneous groups (Oakes, 1982; Chiou, 1995). However, a vast majority of research on tracking comes to the same conclusion: no group of students has been found to benefit consistently from being in a homogeneous group. Students placed in average and low track classes do not develop positive attitudes later on. Instead, this arrangement usually impairs students' self esteem among their peer group. In addition, low track students have been found to participate less in extracurricular activities at school, to misbehave more, and to get involved more often in delinquent behavior off campus. Taiwan's junior high schools also have encountered the preceding consequences of tracking and are struggling to come to terms with this dilemma.
Research Design
Study Purpose and Question
The purpose of the present analysis is to provide some descriptive information about how class time is used by junior high school teachers, and further explore reasons for such time allocation. Specifically, the study attempts to examine the following questions:
1) What types of activities do most teachers engage in during classroom teaching?
2) How is class time used in different teaching activities?
3) What types of activities do most teachers engage in after classroom teaching?
4) How is time used after classroom teaching?
5) What are the problems that most teachers encounter in teaching, and why do these problems continue?
Instrumentation
Two major instruments were developed for data collection: a time record for observing teaching activities, and another list for teacher activities after classroom instruction. The author first targeted types and frequencies of teaching activities in the classroom as well as outside the classroom. The latter includes a ten-minute intermission and time without classroom instruction. Meanwhile, in depth interviews with teachers regarding personal opinions toward instruction were also conducted to further explore the underlying causes in shaping instructional problems at junior high schools.
The in-and-out-of- classroom observation record was developed according to related literature. The items are as follows (Lee, 1995; Wragg, 1995, Brog, 1982; Sanford, 1982):
(1) Administrative and procedural routines:
This category refers to administrative routines that teachers engaged in. For example, roll call, announcements, opening or closing remarks (non academic), self introduction, discussion of homework, and distribution and collection of graded papers.
(2) Content development:
This term is defined as teacher presentation of curricular content, lecture, demonstration, explanation, and any combination of the preceding activities.
(3) Transitions and waiting time:
This refers to intervals between activities, or when the majority of the students in the classroom are simply waiting for the next activity.
(4) Tests:
Activities which are characterized as for diagnostic purposes or assessment of achievement are included in this category.
(5) Pairs or small group activities:
Activities such as small group or paired discussions, presentation, or lab experimentation under teacher guidance are included in this category.
(6) Seatwork:
This category refers to student engagement in individual activities, either at the same assignment or different tasks.
(7) Classroom management:
This category is used as teacher engagement in student discipline problems or the maintenance of classroom order.
(8) Leisure time:
This category is defined when the majority of the students in the class have no assignment; they are simply chatting, reading non-academic books, or playing.
(9) Free talk:
This category is used when teachers are giving remarks on non-academic issues, such as opinions of life philosophy and current social issues.
The time log for out of classroom observation includes the following activities:
(1) Student problems management:
This term refers to dealing with student dispute, fighting, and other discipline problems.
(2) Assignment guidance:
This category is used as supplementary instruction and out-of-classroom guidance.
(3) Guidance for student contests in extra curricular activities:
This term includes the provision of advice or supervision of contests or competitions of sports, special talents, reading comprehension, and scientific exhibitions on-and off-campus.
(4) Leisure time:
This category is used when teachers engage in activities for non academic purposes, such as taking a nap, doing exercise, reading newspapers, and chatting.
(5) Contacts with parents:
This category refers to activities, such as meeting parents in the office, home visits, contacting parents by telephone. The preceding activities are usually held to solve student problems, such as exam grade, transfer, misconduct, and other violations against school regulations.
(6) Grading examinations and correcting papers:
Whenever teachers are involved in grading or checking an assignment or test in their office, this category is applied.
(7) Instructional preparation:
When a teacher engages in any academic preparation before the class, this category is defined. Activities includes the design of instructional materials, preparation for experimental equipment, and reading teacher's guide books.
(8) Advanced study:
This category is used when teachers are involved in professional advancement, such as attending a seminar or speech, studying in an evening class for credit or certificate, and reading professional journals or books.
(9) Administrative duties:
This term refers to whenever teachers are handling administrative work, such as attending non academic meetings and the morning flag raising ceremony, sitting in the school council or committee, and other supporting administrative activities requested by the school authority.
Data Collection
The research model in this study was based on school ethnography and action research combining inputs from administrators and teachers from secondary schools. Decisions in the construction of research framework, which included the design of research questions, sampling, items of teacher's daily schedule, job analysis, research instrument, and so forth were made by the researcher and a liason teacher at the school working in collaboration. Data in this study were collected through classroom observation and in depth interviews. Twenty college students were trained to conduct classroom observations and interviews. Thereafter, each of them conducted a two-day observation on an individual teacher's in-and outside-classroom activities during a regular school day (from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM) in the spring of 1995. After classroom observations, an in-depth interview was conducted with the same teacher.
Sample Description
The target population in the study were teachers of English, math, physics, and chemistry. The reason for such an arrangement was because the preceding subjects were considered the major courses for high school entrance examinations in Taiwan. Many of the observing homeroom teachers were also instructors in these subjects. Therefore, it was a more accessible and worthwhile study.
There were one hundred and twenty six hours of classroom observation in this study. Twenty-four teachers, including twenty-two classroom teachers, were observed. There were nine males and 15 females in the observation group. In terms of seniority, eighteen out of the 24 had taught more than five years.
In addition to the preceding group, another twenty-three teachers were added to receive in-depth interviews. All together, forty seven junior high school teachers participated in the interview, whose questions were derived and revised from classroom observation records. Observation data included logs of class time use, and ratings of specific teacher behaviors. In addition to personal background information, the in depth interview was also designed to ask teacher's opinions of: 1) daily class schedule and time use in each teaching activity; 2) reasons for their instructional methods often used in the class; 3) problems encountered in classroom management; 4) text books and curriculum; 5) teacher workload; 6) student-teacher relationships; 7) teacher-parent relations; and 8) the widespread use of practice exams, study aids, and cram schools.
Results and Discussion
Mean raw minutes of class time in each category and descriptive statistics for the 18 categories of time use were computed separately for each individual teacher observed. Data from in and out of classroom observation and in depth interview were combined and integrated for the following discussion.
1) Teaching load:
With regard to the daily schedule of junior high schools in Taiwan, schools begin and end at set hours. Classes and activities are fixed by the daily schedule. For example, most students and classroom teachers will arrive at school before 7:30 for morning self-study practice. Classes formally begin around 8:10, six mornings a week, and last until 4:30 in the afternoon, Monday through Friday, and till 12:00 noon on Saturdays. Another fifty-minute supplementary class will be held usually sfter 4:30 PM. A brief ten-minute break is allowed between each class. Seven periods of fifty minutes each follow, with a seventy- to ninety- minute lunch break at noon.
Class instruction organized by grade level and subject is conducted by a classroom teacher and teachers of different specialized subjects. The Taiwanese homeroom system with a single classroom teacher, the same classmates, and a common room, remains a family system in school. The system operates in way very similar to the Japanese school system (Shields, 1990)
The average work hours of a junior high school teacher last more than 8 hours. According to the interview, more than 80% of the teachers are responsible for additional supplementary instruction till 5:30. With regard to the class size, 70% of teachers instruct in a class of over 40 students.
2) Class time use in different activities:
According to our observation of 126 hours, each classroom instruction lasts 50.41 minutes on the average (the maximum 62 minutes, the minimum 40 minutes), longer than the 50 minutes officially required for each individual class (see Table 1). Among different activities, teachers' presentation of curriculum content comprises the greatest majority of 28.56 minutes (57%); time for examination practice 5.30 minutes (10%); student seatwork and transitions 3.98 minutes separately (8%); administrative and procedural routines 3.40 minutes (7%); pairs or small group activities 1.65 minutes (3%); discipline 1.57 minutes (3%); free talk 1.4 minutes (3%); and the remaining time for leisure time and others (less than a minute).
In other words, teachers spend 67% of their regular class time on content development and examination practice; 21% on non-academic activities, such as procedural routines, transition, discipline, and free talk; and only 11% student seatwork and small group discussion. Most class time is led by teachers (teacheroriented instruction and tests).
3) Instructional method:
According to observation and interview, the most frequent teaching method is found to be lecture. The reasons for this are various: lecture is more time-consuming; there is too much content to cover in a limited time; the class size is also too large to conduct individualized learning; and it is most efficient to fulfill the need for test preparation. The prevailing attitudes among junior high school students and their parents toward preparation for high school entrance exam have pressured teachers' attitude toward instruction. As a result, teachers compromise and adopt lecturing as the most, if not the only, convenient way to fulfill the requirement of preparing students to pass the entrance examination. On very rare occasions, group discussion takes place in the classroom. Question-and-answer is also seen in the teaching process; however, it has nothing to do with the practice of creative/critical thinking skills. Most of the time, students are asked to stand to answer when the answer is obvious in the textbook. It is hardly the way to induce open discussions. Instruction almost completely dominated by lecture is a thoroughly established pattern.
4) Problems encountered during the teaching process:
In the question of "The major problem confronted in your instruction...", most teachers expressed their trouble in dealing with a class of diverse student learning backgrounds, especially under pressure of the current centralized educational policy and focus on the high school entrance examination.
Specifically, most teachers admit that teaching in a class of very diverse student learning backgrounds is most challenging. Although compulsory education is characterized as recruiting students from different backgrounds and abilities, teachers complain about this problem quite often. Because junior high schools in Taiwan are guided by detailed national standards of a rigid curriculum requirement, students of the same grade are supposed to learn the same content nationwide. The curriculum is certainly too difficult or too easy for some individuals. In a regular class of more than 40 students, teachers feel limited in meeting the needs of every individual student. In addition, most teachers are asked to improve their students' test score in order to prepare students for the "major examination" of high schools. The over-emphasis on grades and tests has distorted the goal of instruction.
In solving the preceding problem, many teachers express their support, though not openly, for class tracking. Only one-fifth of teachers are in favor of the regular class arrangement officially required by the government. The remaining support tracking of any form. According to the study, the possible reasons behind this skewed attitude are as follows:
(1) The over-crowded class size makes classroom teaching almost impossible to meet the needs of individual differences; in addition, the size of the classroom is also too small to conduct any different ways of instruction.
(2) The use of pencil-paper tests for each subject instead of other alternative ways of evaluation has constrained the scope of student achievement, let alone fulfilled the dimensions of education (moral education, intellectual development, athletics, team work, and aesthetics). Those who perform poorly on tests will feel most frustrated, and probably give up learning later on.
(3) Teachers do not have enough training in dealing with students of heterogeneous learning backgrounds. Therefore, most teachers have difficulties in making instruction fulfilling and interesting. For some students, the instruction pace is hard to keep up with or not challenging enough. But the emphasis of the strict rule of same textbooks and examinations has limited options of teachers and students.
(4) Teachers are under a great pressure in preparing students for passing high school entrance exams. Passing exams have become the sole educational priority in teaching process. The severe grade competition usually forces teachers to give up students at risk academically; the latter often, in return, become the source of discipline problem in classroom management.
5) Opinions about textbooks, school aids, and practice tests:
The major textbook problem that most teachers are confronted with is the centralized policy toward a fixed set of textbooks. In other words, teachers are required to complete the same materials in the same time frames with the same textbook. They do not have any other choice to design their own instruction for individual differences. Although teachers, on average, complain about the lack of flexibility in using textbooks, more and more have become insensitive and care less about this problem after years of teaching. Many of them also have begun to accept the reality and have persuaded themselves to regard instruction as merely a daily routine. The only thing they can do is to teach accordingly. As a result, the vast majority of teachers do not challenge the authority of the textbook. Except for the new teachers, they do not have to spend much time on class preparation or curriculum design. In addition, what matters more is the demand for test practice. For example, it is typical for teachers to administer exams after each class. In this respect, the whole teaching process is full of detailed knowledge and repetition of book content. Active student active learning and participation in any debate are absent in most classes.
Another critique comes from the lack of usefulness of the textbook. There is a big gap between real life and what they learn in the classroom. It is difficult to persuade students to combine what they are learning from school with what they are encountering in real life. If not for preparing for the entrance exams, the lack of connection between book knowledge and daily life would make instruction completely boring and dull.
The other issue is also worthwhile to remember. The widespread use of practice tests, review of books, and study aids is nothing new at secondary school. All these commercially sold supplementary materials rely on the basic official textbook. The business is accelerated by the emphasis on entrance exam preparation.
6) The ten-minute break:
The most frequent activities that teachers engage in include: dealing with student problems; going to the restroom; drinking water and taking a break; preparing for the next class instruction; grading papers and exams; and contacting parents. During the break, classroom teachers usually spend most of their time meeting students. It is also worth noting that very few teachers are found to be punctual to begin or close their classroom instruction. Reasons are various, including completing materials in a limited time frame; managing unexpected student emergencies in the classroom; giving tests, and so on.
7) Challenge of the work:
The most stressful experiences that teachers have from work are in the following order: 1) dealing with student discipline problem; 2) teaching-related errands; 3) parent-teacher communications; 4) advising students participating in contests; and 5) substitute teaching or after class instruction. In other words, dealing with student problems, including contacting parents and helping with student contests, comprises the first priority in teachers' daily life at school. This is especially the case among classroom teachers who are responsible for a homeroom class. Devoting time and effort to teaching improvement becomes less urgent compared with handling student problems. In the course of classroom observation, a few teachers are frustrated and exhausted in getting ready for solving any possible emergencies that might come up among students. Consequently, teachers are under a great deal of psychological pressure after confronting a wide range of student problems from a large class size.
8) Time use outside classroom:
According to observation, most teachers will return to their teachers' room after class, where each teacher has a desk. The teachers' room is used in various ways, such as meeting students, preparation and evaluation work for teaching, individual study, and drinking tea or coffee. It is a typical example of Taiwan's collectivist culture described by some western scholars (Hofstede, 1980).
From the study, every teacher, on average, has 283.95 minutes after classroom instruction (excluding the noon break) (see Table 2). Grading exams and correcting papers make up 86.14 minute (30.3%), dealing with students 36.91 minutes (13%), instructional preparation 31.03 minutes (11%), administrative duties 19.35 minutes (6,8%), advanced study 3.7 minutes (1.3%), and the remaining time for other unspecified activities. In other words, teachers are found to grade homework and exams mostly, followed by dealing with student problems, preparing instructional materials and instruments, handling administrative duties, and studying individually to upgrade their skills and knowledge.
9) Parental interference:
Parents, like many other countries, usually participate in school activities through the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to convey their concerns about school. However, in Taiwan, parental indirect involvement in the course of teaching through administrative channel bothers teachers very often. Specifically, teachers are often asked by the school authority (usually the principal) to improve their students' test score. In many cases, the request and pressure comes from the students' parents. Another problem comes from parents who have asked teachers to employ more rigid discipline in the classroom, and to be tougher with their children. In addition, teachers are sometimes asked to transfer to a different class in order to fulfill some special needs. Teachers' professional autonomy, in this regard, is often challenged by school authorities and parents. A serious interference of teaching methods and outcomes is not uncommon at school.
Conclusion
The teaching profession in Taiwan is considered a secure and highly respected job, which attracts many talented individuals every year. Because learning and the ensuing academic credentials are most valued pursuits and goals in junior high schools, teachers are still greatly respected. According to the current study, a teacher's day in junior high schools is usually very crowded. Teachers' weekly classroom teaching hours are relatively short, about sixteen hours for classroom teachers and twenty-two hours for subject teachers, compared to fifteen hours per week in Japan and twenty-five hours in the United States. Nevertheless, they have many other duties to fulfill during the entire school day. In the study, 80% of the teachers stayed at school over eight hours per day, working from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM. In addition to the required classroom instruction, 82% of them conduct a two-hour supplementary teaching after school every week. Seventy percent teach in a class of over forty students. Though the classroom teachers are released from a few hours of instruction, they are responsible for student counseling and classroom management.
With regard to classroom instruction, it is found to be very teacher-oriented and teacher-centered. Most of the instructions are related to content development and tests. Keeping up with textbooks and conducting examination practice leave little time for classroom discussion. Discussion or debate is considered inefficient and seldom held since information feeding is the major goal of instruction. Other factors, such as large class size, and profound reluctance by most students to express their opinions before a group also inhibit class discussion. It seems to be that most students would rather listen passively than participate actively in the course of instruction. On the other hand, the lack of individual learning and creative thinking in the class has made instruction less interesting and attractive to the students. Under these circumstances, teachers are less likely to conduct individualized learning, small group discussion, or any opportunity for two-way communication in the class (Ker, 1995).
During the ten-minute breaks, most teachers are observed drinking water, taking a break, going to the restroom, or dealing with student problems. The last activity is often seen among the classroom teachers. After instruction, most teachers will return to their offices, where teachers are found to be busy with paper and homework grading. This finding coincides with other research which indicate most primary and secondary teachers are found to correct papers and grade examinations in their office (Chen, 1988; Tseng, 1994). In other words, daily routines of correcting and grading are very demanding for teachers after classroom instruction. The trade-off is that teachers become less likely to engage in class preparation and professional growth, such as researching curriculum, attending seminars and joining study group.
Although the study does not intend to generalize the findings of the research, the author attempts to explore some reasons behind the current teaching activities in junior high schools. Reasons are manifold.
Firstly, according to the interview, teachers have mixed feelings about using lectures in the class. The positive side of the story is that, according to several interviewees, lectures are regarded as more efficient in content development, especially under the pressure of preparation for the high school entrance examinations. The downside of this instructional method derives from the over-emphasis on examination at the expense of students' active learning attitudes and sense of creativity. In addition, teachers also lack training in oral communication to help stimulate students' critical and creative thinking. Another reason is that teachers, after a few years of teaching, get used to lecturing on the textbook. It is also much easier to stay with textbooks for the sake of preparation for high school entrance examinations (Tsen, 1994).
Secondly, diverse student learning backgrounds makes teaching difficult. Most teachers from junior high schools work hard to overcome such diverse individual differences in learning. Class tracking is forbidden by the educational authority. However, in reality, this placement system has come to exist in many campuses, if not officially, in responding to the call from teachers parents as well. Student labeling is the by-product of class tracking, which groups students into different academic levels and provides different treatments in class. In spite of the controversial tracking problem, many teachers in the study support the notion of class tracking.
Thirdly, teachers share in various roles beyond teaching. Classroom teachers, in particular, assume heavy student guidance duties. The study indicates that most teachers work more than eight hours at school. Although classroom teaching is the major responsibility, other activities outside classroom, such as grading, student counseling, parental contact, and many other school related duties are also very demanding. Consequently, many teachers work for a couple of hours in their schools after their official responsibilities are over. In other words, dealing with student grades and behavioral problems have become teachers' priority. The latter, in the eyes of many teachers, is even more challenging than teaching itself. In this regard, unfortunately, many teachers are not well prepared in updating their professional skills in dealing with discipline problems, which have become more and more complex as a result of Taiwan's drastic changes in society, family structure, and many other respects.
In sum, Stevenson (1990) once commented on teachers in Taiwan as more likely to summon energy for teaching in large classes because they instruct fewer hours than do their American counterparts. It is also believed that teachers in Taiwan have more time available during the day for preparing lessons, working with individual students, and conducting other class-related activities outside the classroom. Nevertheless, as a result of the prevailing emphasis on academic credentials in Taiwan, school teaching has been dominated by cramming and indoctrination in secondary schools. Preparation for high school entrance exams has become the first priority of school teaching at the expense of cultivating students' well-balanced development in the learning process. The current study demonstrates the fact that teachers in Taiwan are subject to a range of conflicting pressures from school authorities, peers, parents, and students. Meanwhile, the job of teaching itself is in flux as teachers explore a variety of identities and roles. They also find themselves often at the center of debates on school reform, and criticized by different interest groups from society. Will they stand up to challenge the prevailing attitude toward examination which has distorted educational goals and school instruction? How do they cope with the sense of frustration for not being able to meet the needs of individual differences in a large class? How do classroom teachers manage to combine the heavy duties of student guidance, other school business, and instructional improvement? Will junior high school teachers take part in school reform or stay out of it? Finally, will they continue to compromise with the examination culture? Many answers are yet to be explored.
Table 1
Time use in classroom
Table 2
Time use after classroom instruction
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