"Making It" In China: Why Young Rural Women Climb the Ladder by Moving into Chinaís Cities.

Abstract

I study why young rural Chinese women migrate into urban areas to improve their lives. I conducted an ethnographic study of a village of 800 households in Northeast China, interviewing 42 young women between the ages of 18-29 participating in migration between the years of 2005-2008. Sampling participants based on locally defined SES categories, I interview women at different stages of the migration transition. These women leave home to participate in rural to urban migration in two primary ways; (1) through pursuing post secondary education as students and (2) employment as migrant labor, postponing marriage and cohabitation as a spouse or partner of someone already residing in an urban area. Women’s preferences and choices about leaving home are influenced by beliefs about which migration options afford greater degrees of permanence, integration into urban society, and achievement of autonomy. My dissertation further addresses the relationship between familial origins and migration, education, employment, urban adaptation, and social mobility for rural women in China.