107 CHAPTER 8 Gender, Higher Education, and Earnings: The Case of Hong Kong Linda Chelan Li and Iris Chui Ping Kam INTRODUCTION Capitalist development of Hong Kong since the colonial rule of the British government has contributed to greater chances for women’s employment and earning mobility. From a historical perspective, the opportunity for women to participate in the manufacturing industry has been on the rise from the 1960s to 1970s. However, women at the time took up employment mainly as cheap, unskilled factory workers due to their lower educational level, and limited government support for indus- trial growth and labor protection (Chiu 1994; Choi 1999; Jones 1990; Salaff 1981). The increasing demand for more local talent to serve the growing public and business sectors led to the expansion of educational © The Author(s) 2019 D. E. Neubauer and S. Kaur (eds.), Gender and the Changing Face of Higher Education in Asia Pacifc, International and Development Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02795-7_8 L. C. Li (*) City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong e-mail: salcli@cityu.edu.hk I. C. P. Kam Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Chai Wan, Hong Kong