Gender Relations in Recent Chinese Migration to Australia

Abstract

The study frames its exploration of gender relations among recent migrants from the People's Republic of China to Australia from theory in two fields: migration studies and gender roles. Based on interviews of recent Chinese migrants to Australia, findings suggest that gender role performances are strategic and flexible. Women actively engage in international migration. The mobility of women is contingent on their education, occupation, language skill and networks. Neither do conventional migration models or gender role theories render clear explanations of the gender roles exhibited by women migrants in the sample. Rather, the impact of migration on gender relations is multifaceted, individualized and cultural. Women's expectations of men involved elements of tradition, modernity and some degree of ambivalence. The findings suggest the importance of considering the social context, culture and social class of migrants in the home country when discussing the gender relations of migrants in the process of settlement in the host country. The study calls for country/culture-specific approach and suggests a fresh way of studying gender relations among the Chinese in a globalizing era.