This paper examines the trend in gender inequality in educational attainment and nonagricultural
employment in China’s transitional urban labor markets in the 1990s. Based on the
analyses of the micro-sample data from the 1982, 1990 and 2000 population censuses and from
the 2005 mini-census, we found that: (1) gender gap in education, though still existing, has been
substantially reduced due to the educational expansion in the 1990s; (2) unlike what have been
found in other countries, increase in women’s education in China did not lead to higher labor
force participation rate. Instead, women’s employment rate drops over time, though not as
dramatically as does men’s; (3) despite the fact that education increases in the likelihood of
employment, such effect has declined over time for both men and women; (4) marriage has
different effect on the employment for men and women. While married men are more likely to
hold employment than non-married men, married women are less likely to do so than nonmarried
women; among married women, those with birth in the previous year are less likely to
hold employment over time. The evidence suggests a return to traditional gender roles that used
to be reshaped by the socialist ideology on gender equality. We conclude that such entry and exit
mechanisms need to be included in the examination of the gender earnings inequality in urban
China’s transitional labor markets.