Chinese Australian Daughters’ Experiences of Educational Opportunity in 1930s–60s Australia

Abstract

Interviews with Chinese Australian women highlight the impacts of cultural and gendered identities on the educational opportunities and achievements of daughters in 1930s to 1960s Australia. Some women recalled being prepared as children for their later role as dutiful wives – tasked with domestic duties, working in family businesses, given limited educational opportunities, and made aware of their role to be ‘married off’. Others recalled equal treatment with their brothers and being encouraged to strive for educational success. This variety of experience points to the diversity of Chinese Australian families and the ways in which Confucian/patriarchal systems were negotiated within them.