“Migrant Optimism” as Gender Egalitarianism: Parental Expectations and their Impacts in China

• In Event: 3441 - Gender and Marriage in Asia and Asian America 

Abstract

A growing body of research frames migrant educational inequalities in China as a problem of legal access. Adapting the theory of immigrant optimism, which argues that immigrant families have particularly high educational expectations, to the Chinese context – one that has long garnered research attention on gender differences in educational outcomes – we ask whether academic expectations are highest among parents who migrate, whether patterns in expectations of sons and daughters vary by migrant status, whether earlier parental expectations impact later student expectations, and whether this link varies for expectations of sons versus daughters. . Using nationally representative data, we find that contrary the theory of immigrant optimism, migrant families in China do not have particularly high expectations. However, families who migrate, including those with left-behind children, have expectations that are more egalitarian. Moreover, high parental expectations boost later student expectations, and this positive influence is stronger for daughters of parents who migrate compared to sons.

Authors

• Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, New York University

• Chen Li, New York University