Over the past two decades, the feminisation of primary school teaching has been identified by the media and government officials in Western countries as an important contributing factor to boys' academic problems. This panic, which has been criticised by feminists as a backlash and a form of recuperative politics, has promoted the development of research into gender and education, particularly studies related to the gendered culture of primary schools and on the masculinities of male teachers. However, male primary principals remain relatively under-researched in the literature, despite the importance of their structural position and increasing concern over the masculinisation of school leadership. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion by critically analysing the interpretive frameworks of 12 male primary school principals. The findings reveal not only the complex, contradictory and at times culturally specific gendered discourses that some male principals employ, but also their feminising and masculinising effects on the school workplace and leadership.
[Copyright of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2011.611041]

This study had three purposes: (a) to compare the prevalence of boys' and girls' gender-atypical behaviors (GABs) in a sample of Chinese school-aged children, (b) to examine the developmental pattern of GABs in Chinese boys and girls over the age range in question (6-12 years), and (c) to test the effects of being an only child on children's GAB expression. Parents of 486 boys and 417 girls completed a Child Play Behavior and Activity Questionnaire (CPBAQ) in regard to their own children, and a demographic information sheet. The frequency distribution for each gender-related behavior was calculated. The associations between sex, age, and only-child status, and CPBAQ scale scores were examined. Although most GABs (by their very nature) were exhibited infrequently in Chinese children, it was found that girls displayed GABs more frequently than boys did. The prevalence of GABs rose for girls as they grew older, but fell slightly for boys. The expressions of GABs in only children did not differ from that in children with siblings. Possible effects of Chinese culture (including the current only-child policy) on children's GABs are discussed.
[Copyright of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224491003774867]

The feminisation of teaching is an important topic in education and gender studies. Discussions have been enriched by comparative and international studies as well as a gendering perspective in which a complicated view of the role of the state has emerged. In colonial Hong Kong, although the government was limited in its support of teacher training, its strategic control was not ineffective. Through regulating the teaching force, the colonial regime was instrumental in training women to help civilise the young and in creating a dead end job - that of a 'primary school teacher'. It also constantly (re) constructed the nature and role of 'Chinese teacher' and 'Chinese women'. By revealing some seldom-explored strategies and disrupting the fixed meanings of 'Chinese teacher', 'Chinese women', and 'primary school teacher', this paper unravels the intervention and (re) invention of the colonial regime in the teaching occupation and probes their implications for a patriarchal society.
[Copyright of History of Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2011.635603]

The transition into university life is crucial to the future achievements of the students. However, the experience of the transition may be different between male and female students, but this has not been empirically investigated in previous research. The purpose of this study is to examine the gender differences in the perception of university support. This research is based on a survey of 265 students from five universities in Hong Kong. The findings show that (i) more female students perceive the university as being supportive in their academic adjustment than male students; (ii) more male than female students perceive the university as being supportive in their social adjustment; and (iii) more male than female students perceive the university as being supportive in their psychological adjustment. Finally, the implications of the study are explored and discussed.
[Copyright of Journal of Further and Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2011.645460]

The Wallach-Kogan Creativity Tests were translated into Chinese and later fully computerized for research in Hong Kong. The normative data of two cohorts (1994 and 2002) of school children were employed to test the hypothesis that growth in creative thinking occurs in a society or culture during a period of education and curriculum reforms that emphasize creative thinking. Results of multivariate analysis of variance and subsequent univariate analysis of variance supported the hypothesis. Moreover, some interesting gender differences in creativity growth were observed, underlining the fact that boys and girls should be treated differentially to obtain a desirable creativity growth for them.
[Copyright of Creativity Research Journal is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Medical Teacher. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2013.843916]