Date : 2023-09-15
Venue : CKB109
Emerging New Gendered Roles in Chinese Rural Families among Female Vocational College Students
- Date: 20 September 2023 (Wed)
- Time: 12:30 - 14:00 HK Time
- Venue: Chen Kou Bun Building 109 (CKB 109) (In-person*)
- Registration: https://shorturl.at/mvEM7
Abstract
The rapid expansion of higher education and the labor market and the emergence of individualistic values allow rural Chinese youths to have more power and freedom in their individualized planning for future development and construction of their identities. This presentation, drawing mainly on data from in-depth interviews with vocational college students from rural households, explores their motivation for higher education and the meaning they attach to education and employment. Analyzing focus is put on the intricacies of educated young women’s gendered subjectivities under the rapid social, cultural, and economic transitions in rural communities. While investigating their strategies for economic empowerment and self-development, a new form of empowered gender subjectivity is identified. By aspiring to provide continuous financial, emotional and physical support for their parents through a smooth school-to-work transition, they aim to transform the devalued role of daughters in the patriarchal system to become valuable daughters for their natal families.
Speaker's Biography
Anita Koo is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at Hong Kong Baptist University. She researches on the impacts of structural inequalities on educational opportunities, youth development, and chances of social mobility among individuals from different classes and gender. Her present research focuses on the educational experiences, gendering process, life chances and the school-to-work transitions among those who study in vocational/professional programs in expanded higher education systems in Hong Kong and China. Her publications appeared in Sociology, Journal of Education Policy, Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Journal of Youth Studies, Chinese Sociological Review, etc.
