Gender Differences

Gender differences have been located in biology, psychology and sociology. This study endeavours to explore the possible gender differences among Chinese students studying at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education across three domains: education, living and acculturation. Positive adjustment of the students to their new environment is supported by qualitative interview data, though problems of minor significance do exist in their course of adaptation. The study reveals some minor gender differences. A small female superiority in adaptation is manifested in some female students' better relations with their teachers, more deliberate intention to socialize and make friends with local students, an eagerness to immerse themselves in the host society and greater propensity to identify themselves with the gender roles extant in the UK. Gender differences were also exhibited in female students' tendency to gain or maintain their weight and male students' proneness to weight loss. Finally, the study reveals that some male students' taciturn tendency in class might be owed to their being more ingrained in traditional Chinese culture than their female conterparts.

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