(ECNS) -- Men with lower educational qualifications and women with higher ones are more prone to being single in China, researchers have shown.
Women with a doctoral degree are often joked about as people of "the third gender" in China.
One female student said she planned to pursue a doctoral degree but her family was strongly opposed to the idea, worrying that a higher education might be an obstacle to her future family life, while her boyfriend feared he would be dumped, China Youth Daily reported.
Several other media reports have exposed the pressures faced by well-educated women in seeking a relationship as they were assumed to be lacking in femininity and attractiveness.
Chen Jinkuan, a teacher of social psychology at Zhengzhou University in Henan Province, said studies show women with a higher education find it as difficult as men with lower educations to find a partner.
Surveys also show men are generally willing to get married to women who have a similar education level and are daunted by women with better educational and work qualifications and knowledge.
The report called for gender equality and more support and respect for women in seeking higher education.
