I want to have a bit of it all' : new Chinese professional women's careers, work and life

Abstract

There is increasing literature on the new Chinese diaspora in the West (Ang, 2021; Nyiri, 2018; Li, 2017; Stevens, 2019; Wang, 2018; Wang & Collins, 2020). Yet there is much less research being undertaken on the experiences of new professional Chinese women - a demographic that has grown in Australia in recent decades. Most importantly, the significant impacts of China's one-child policy and other post-Mao reforms on these women's work and life choices have received little consideration. This thesis examines the lived experiences of 21 new Chinese professional women, and unpacks the complexity of their choices in career, in the workplace and at home. This study draws on three conceptual ideas - 'inequality regimes', intersectionality and Bourdieu's notions of capital and habitus - to unpack these women's experiences. A key focus of the thesis is the analysis of the consequences of their status as Dushengnv (only daughter), who experience intensified pressure to achieve success in both their careers and family life. The central objective of this research is to develop a nuanced understanding of what 'having a career' and 'having a life' mean for these women, embedded in a trajectory shaped by the interaction between its origins in mainland China and its present in Australia. The thesis argues that their aspirations and decisions in career and family life, while clearly gendered, are also dynamic because of the imperative to plan amid constant changes. An idea of Dushengnv capital and new Chinese habitus is developed to understand these changes and make sense of their choices at work and in their family life. The thesis foregrounds the multiple temporal dimensions of paid work and home trajectories to explore the ways 'work-life balance' is a constant experience of negotiation. These women's experiences in the workplace are fluid and contradictory, intensified by a strong professional orientation and the intersectional dynamics of gender, class, race/ethnicity and motherhood. Meanwhile, they also navigate competing priorities in life - as a daughter, wife and mother - demonstrating characteristics of 'privileged daughters' (Xie, 2021) and changing parental expectations of 'daughterly filiality' (Martin, 2022a).

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English