Chinese Dreams? American Dreams? Gendered Transnational Networks, Guanxi, and the Power of Reversed Migration

• In Event: (Re)Thinking Mobilities and Chinese STS:" The Politics, Practices, and Cultural Logics of Diasporic Chinese Scientists in Technosciences, 1919–2018

Abstract

Foreign-born women scientists and engineers who are studying and working in the United States constitute a rapidly growing yet understudied group. Despite being highly educated and well represented in U.S. science and engineering fields, they remain invisible. Chinese women make up a significant part of this group. In the physical sciences and engineering, many of these women have pursued their undergraduate education in their home countries but have their doctoral work in the U.S. and then remaining to pursue careers. However, publicly available large-scale data on international students and scholars is extremely scarce; and what there is rarely indicates the gender breakdown within such groups. This is one reason that systematic and longitudinal studies of science and engineering international women students' mentoring relationships, gender dynamics, social networks, challenges and career outcomes are yet to be seen. Derived from my recent book on Chinese women scientists in the U.S., this paper explores the transnational connections that Chinese women build over the past two decades and their impact not only this group of immigrant scientists in the U.S. but also transnational scientific research and collaborations. It is important to explore the motivation, immigration patterns, career paths of women Chinese graduate students in physical sciences and engineering programs. In particular, it is crucial to understand the part of Chinese culture and history that heavily impacts the education system and schema in China, and how these in turn affect the lives of Chinese women who study and work in the U.S.

Author

• Diane Gu, UCLA