I Would Have a Career Had I Not Migrated!

• In Event: 533 - Section on Asia and Asian America Paper Session. The Work of Sex and Gender: Asia and Asian America

Abstract

International migration is a gendered process that changes men’s and women’s lives in different ways. Based on 45 life-history interviews, this article explores how highly-skilled married immigrant women reconstruct the meaning of employment and housework in their adaptation process. Findings suggest that Taiwanese immigrant husbands’ domination in the decision to relocate their families to the United States results in drastic changes in wives’ lives. Migrating as dependents, many professional women retreat from prominent careers to become housewives in the receiving country. Restricted by their visa status for employment but lacking fulfillment in homemaking, these women search for new meaning of their employment and housework during early years of settlement. Two common trajectories emerged; women enter the U.S. labor force in practical areas or they remain homemakers. Women’s senses of self are reconstructed as the two paths progress in their immigrant lives.

Author

• Chien-Juh Gu, Western Michigan University