From ‘civilizing the young’ to a ‘dead end job’: The feminization of teaching in colonial Hong Kong (1842–1970)
Abstract:
It is well recognized that primary school teaching in Hong Kong is a feminized occupation, i.e. a job that is predominantly staffed by female teachers, yet the reasons and processes contributing to such a development have not received much academic attention. Similarly, the job category “primary school teacher” has been taken as self-evident and its emergence and meaning have not been subject to closer scrutiny. This paper attempts to address these issues by critically examining the feminization process of primary school teaching in colonial Hong Kong. It will trace the historical development of the teaching profession from 1842 to 1970, and elucidate how it has changed from “men’s work” to “women’s work”. The discussion will reveal the role of the colonial government, which was instrumental in recruiting women, in particular those of better social backgrounds, to civilize the young, in creating “primary school teacher” as a dead end job, and in suppressing the wages of women teachers. In probing the strategies and justifications involved in the process, the presentation will uncover the constant redefinitions of the role, status, and nature of women and primary school teachers, and the multiple effects of feminization on Chinese native women.
Speaker:
Anita K.W. Chan is Associate Professor of the Department of Social Sciences. Her research interests include the investigation of family changes in Hong Kong, the construction of parenthood and motherhood in parenting magazine, and the gendered identities of young girls and teachers. She is currently collecting life histories of primary school principals and is interested in examining the similarities and differences between female and male heads in terms of career trajectories, and management and leadership styles.