Belonging or Burden? Motivations and Marginaliations of Chinese Women Academic Returnees in Universities

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: International Explorations of Women in Academia and Teaching

Abstract

This paper explores the narrative accounts of Chinese women academics who returned to academia in China after completing their PhDs in Western English-speaking countries. Using a feminist narrative approach and photovoice method, the study reveals how their return decisions were shaped by gendered timelines, familial obligations, and affective economies—rather than by career ambition alone. Upon returning, many encountered symbolic inclusion yet structural marginalization, performing invisible gendered labor while navigating institutional constraints. By centering their narratives and visual reflections, this study highlights the affective politics of belonging and contributes to feminist understandings of academic labor, transnational mobility, and the multiple meanings of “home“.

Author

• Yunqing Xia, University of Auckland