Abstract
This study explores the issue of gender equity in educational expectation among Taiwanese people. Data collected from the "Social Change Survey, 1990-1991" were analyzed. The sample is a multi-stage stratified systematic sample drawn from the total Taiwanese population, consisting of 2488 adults between the ages of twenty and seventy during the survey. The analytical results show that, in the process of educational expansion, the overall levels of educational attainment have increased over time. The gender gap in educational attainment is significant among older interviewees, and gradually narrows down between men and women of younger cohorts. Among the older cohorts, men enjoyed higher educational expectation and greater amount of resources than women. Men, however, were also under greater pressure. As women's levels of educational attainment increase, the pressure they suffer also intensified. Results also show that people's attitudes towards gender division of labor remain quite stable and traditional, despite the increase of women's level of education and labor market participation. Finally, people's educational expectatin of men were significantly higher than that of women. Moreover, it is women that hold greater gender differential in educational expectation. One may thus speculate that Taiwan's schooling system has reproduced, rather than challenged, the patriarchal order of the society.