Comments, Feedback, & Suggestions

This is a ‘must read’ for every foreigner thinking about coming to China to teach.

I know it was written by men but it would have been nice if you could have included some women teachers too for some of the sections. The section on dating was interesting to read and it confirmed things I’ve thought about with Chinese girls, but doesn’t offer any useful information for single female teachers.

But everything else was great! Maybe future updates can include sections that are written just for women by women?

Thank you for this!

Thanks for a very interesting and informative website. However, I feel it is sadly lacking in information on life for single women (of all ages) English teachers - it is as if women never go to China!

As an early-retired (55+) former registered nurse with a recent CELTA,who has always enjoyed new experiences and new countries (I have lived and worked in the Middle East in the 1970s, in the Australian outback and in Central European University teaching hospitals) I would love to find some information about life in China relevant to single women who have passed the early 20s partying stage.

Or perhaps I should just get a Chinese job, then contribute that information myself … LOL!

Seriously, what would be my chances of a reasonable job in a reasonable city, given my sex, age and background?

Hi Sheena,

Thanks for your feedback about the guide. The answer to the main issue you raised is a multifaceted one.

For starters, there are in fact far fewer female teachers in China than men, especially single ones. If our collective survey data are any indication of the actual relative percentage of women to men foreign teachers in China, then it appears that women comprise between 16 to 25% of the total foreign teacher population, based on our teacher satisfaction and reader surveys, respectively. However, of that 16 to 25%, about one-fourth are over the age of 40 and about half of them are single. Restated, and looking at this as an average of the averages, about 20% of all foreign teachers are female and most of them are under the age of 40 and in China together with a significant other. It would be fair to say that single (unattached) female foreign teachers in China are a relatively distinct minority.

We are aware that the guide is silent on the issue of Western women/Chinese men relationships. The reason for this is that this particular type of relationship is statistically rare. We cannot find any empirical research in the PsycInfo or SocAbstract online databases that has specifically studied this relationship type nor can we even find casual references to it in newspaper or magazine articles. Anecdotal evidence suggests that whatever few instances of Western women/Chinese men relationships do exist in China, they are grossly overrepresented by Western-born Chinese women, e.g., an American-born Chinese woman teaching in China who is married to a Chinese male national.

Strictly from a vocational perspective, I would say, as an educated guess, that there are no real significant existential differences across gender on any relevant variable one could identify, although there is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that single women, at any age, might have an easier time procuring employment than single men.

From a strictly social perspective, it is very difficult to say what differences, for example, a 60-year old single foreign woman in Shanghai would experience that would be phenomenologically different than, say, a woman of the same age in either London or New York City. Having just written this, if you have specific topics in mind in which you anticipate significant differences in experience across gender as a function of country, I’d love to learn about them. I strongly suspect that whatever social differences do exist are probably limited to foreign men only who will have access to far more dating opportunities among (as a rule) less educated, highly Westernized, and/or divorced Chinese women (especially those with a child) who are not competitive for the most desirable and highly sought after Chinese men. A survey study that I am currently conducting of 500 Chinese college students at a high-ranked, first-tier university reveals a surprising indifference to dating and marrying foreign men.

Your job prospects as a 55+ single foreign woman will be no different, certainly no worse, in China than those of a 55+ single foreign man with the same background and credentials. A good place to start would be to take our China English Teacher Self-Assessment Test and then to examine the Comprehensive Checklist.

I tell you what, if you do decide to work in China as a foreign English teacher, we’ll pay you for your personal story and if you find yourself in the relatively rare position of dating a Chinese man, we’ll pay you double for it! LOL.

Good luck and let us know what happens.