Spatial, financial and gender inequalities in educational attainment are significant in China despite a series of state educational reforms. Here financially disadvantaged rural Chinese girls are among the most educationally deprived.This research project examined the social barriers to gender equalities in rural Chinese educational contexts in order to identify impediments to educational advancement and, thus, career mobility and poverty reduction, especially for rural girls in the long-term. The research questions of this study were as follows: In what ways and to what extent do different social factors influence the gender gaps among rural Chinese students' academic outcomes? The examined barriers were (a) gender, (b) parental educational attainment, (c) opportunities to practise Mandarin at home, (d) social welfare entitlement, (e) adequacy of educational facilities and (f) transport accessibility.