Privileged daughters? Gendered mobility among highly educated Chinese female migrants in the UK

The one-child generation daughters born to middle-class Chinese parents enjoy the privilege of concentrated family resources and the opportunity for education overseas. We focus on the “privileged daughters” who have studied abroad and remained overseas as professionals. Using three cases of post-student female migrants who were of different ages and at different life stages, we situate their socioeconomic mobility in the context of intergenerational relationships and transnational social space. Drawing on further interview data from the same project we argue that, although the “privileged daughters” have achieved geographical mobility and upward social mobility, through education and a career in a Western country, their life choices remain heavily influenced by their parents in China. Such findings highlight the transnationally transferred gendered burden among the relatively “elite” cohort, thus revealing a more nuanced gendered interpretation of transnational socioeconomic mobility

Middle class one-child migrants: between transnational aspirations in the UK and family responsibility in China

The rapid economic development in China since 1978 and the one-child policy enacted in 1979 produced a large number of middle class families with only one child. Initially inspired by the Western means to affluence, these one-child migrants came to the UK (mostly) as international students and remained after their study to take up opportunities to gain work in the professions. As the only child they were faced with the dilemma of seeking greater mobility in the host country, and looking after their ageing parents in China. This research seeks to understand the factors behind their decision to migrate or to settle, and how the only-child migrants in the UK negotiate filial obligations in relation to their parents in China. The transnational one-child family provides a unique case for investigating how families function and change under extreme conditions; as well as how traditional family values and practices shift in the 21st Century within the context of rapid modernisation. The findings of the research are based on interviews with 27 one-child migrants, 6 migrants with siblings and 7 parents of the one-child participants. The migrant participants are from different regions of China and were dispersed in the UK. The majority of the sample has an urban middle class background. By including parents and children from the same family, which is rarely done in transnational family research, this study is able to analyse the separated household members from both sides. The detailed accounts of the migrants' lived experience reveal a multi-level decision-making process over the life course of these families, a predominately parent-to-child intergenerational material transfer, as well as a reconfigured reciprocity between one-child migrants and their parents. Families represent the most intimate form of a transnational social field. One-child transnational families in this study have shown intense circulation of material resources, emotion and care forged by the biological bond and family contract; these families played a crucial "bridging" role that connects the social spaces between China and the UK. As a result individual migrants are actively involved in relationships in multi-layered spaces, and simultaneously influenced by these relationships. International education and the globalised late-capital world gave rise to a demographic of Western-educated Chinese migrants who are relatively mobile, while some aspects of their lives are still geographically bound. By introducing the time factor into the family-migration nexus the thesis shows that migrants' establishment in the host country and their transnational ties are neither incompatible, nor are they static; their relationship evolves with the life cycle of the individuals, and the changing society in both the host country and China

Physical activity, sport and transnational migrant spaces in Shanghai, China: (Re)crafting contours of a metropolitan cityscape

This study examines associations between sport/physical activity space, community formation, and social life among Shanghai’s highly-skilled migrant demographic. There is limited illustration of roles sports and physical exercise provision and spaces play in this migrant cohort’s lives, community formation, and participation in their host societies. Such evidence is of value in determining social policy, urban development and community engagement initiatives. Using a mixed-methods approach involving public policy critique, cultural and spatial analysis and virtual community investigation, this paper provides a conceptual exploration of ways sport and physical activity frame individual and collective migrant experiences, and how such experiences enmesh with wider geo-spatial, political and domestic context. Amid Shanghai’s presentation as a globally attractive space, we reveal some of the complexities of the city-scape as an emblematic location for highly mobile, highly-skilled migrants. A confluence of ideals about urban citizenship, social participation and localised physical activity/sport-based (inter)action, we note, articulate Shanghai anew, and contribute to debates on highly-skilled transnational mobility and community formation

Prediction Model of Aztec Apples Quality Based on the Fusion of Multi-maturity Spectral Information

The quality of Aztec apples varies significantly at different maturity stages, which can have a significant impact on postharvest storage and sales efficiency. This study focused on Aztec apples at four different maturity stages in Suqian, Jiangsu Province. Firstly, the variations in color (L*, a*, b* values), firmness (FI), soluble solid content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), moisture content (MC) and dry matter content (DMC) were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Simultaneously, visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR) and near-infrared (NIR) spectral techniques, along with the successive projections algorithm (SPA), competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and uninformative variable elimination (UVE) algorithms were employed for selecting relevant characteristic variables. Subsequently, partial least squares (PLS) and support vector machine (SVM) were utilized to establish quality prediction models for Aztec apples. The results revealed that SSC, a*, L* and b* had a significant impact on the categorization of Aztec apples at different maturity stages. Notably, wavelength bands in the ranges of 510 to 680 nm, 1170 to 1270 nm and 2300 nm exhibited strong correlations with characteristic attributes. The SPA-PLS and SPA-SVM models demonstrated remarkable performance in predicting the L*, b* and a* values of Aztec apples at different maturity stages, with all relative percent deviation (RPD) values exceeding 3.00. The CARS-PLS model effectively predicted SSC with an RPD of 3.19. However, the prediction accuracy of SPA-PLS models for FI, TA, MC and DMC was comparatively lower, with RPD values of 2.27, 2.21, 2.32 and 2.42, respectively. The results demonstrated that Vis-NIR and NIR spectroscopy methods could predict the quality of Aztec apples at different maturity stages, providing valuable technical references for the harvest management and quality control of Aztec apples

Privileged Daughters? Gendered Mobility among Highly Educated Chinese Female Migrants in the UK

The one-child generation daughters born to middle-class Chinese parents enjoy the privilege of concentrated family resources and the opportunity for education overseas. We focus on the “privileged daughters” who have studied abroad and remained overseas as professionals. Using three cases of post-student female migrants who were of different ages and at different life stages, we situate their socioeconomic mobility in the context of intergenerational relationships and transnational social space. Drawing on further interview data from the same project we argue that, although the “privileged daughters” have achieved geographical mobility and upward social mobility, through education and a career in a Western country, their life choices remain heavily influenced by their parents in China. Such findings highlight the transnationally transferred gendered burden among the relatively “elite” cohort, thus revealing a more nuanced gendered interpretation of transnational socioeconomic mobility

Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety

One-child transnational families are the product of the “one-child” policy, access to foreign travel, and the rise of a middle class that could afford overseas education for the only child. One result was the possibility of the only child, following its Western-based education, settling (semi)permanently in the host country. This situation raises the issue of how the only child balances the opportunities in the West with the filial responsibilities to ageing parents back in China. Recognising the diversity of family forms, this study highlights the “human story” of ageing and intergenerational relations in families split between China and the UK. Drawing on 40 interviews, which included one-child migrants in the UK and some of their parents in China, this article explores the views of both generations. The findings indicate that international migration and increased family affluence did not lead to the erosion of filial piety. However, the practice and perception of filial piety among these families underwent a complex transition. Distance and borders posed future significant barriers for parental long-term care. One-child migrants tended to compensate for the lack of material/practical care by providing long-distance emotional care for their parents. Both generations expressed ambivalence towards this new transnational family contract. Instead of focusing on the practical outcomes, this article argues for the importance of examining how the members of transnational families perceive their filial behaviour. This focus brings out the less visible changing dynamics of intergenerational care in the context of modernisation and globalisation

Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety

One-child transnational families are the product of the “one-child” policy, access to foreign travel, and the rise of a middle class that could afford overseas education for the only child. One result was the possibility of the only child, following its Western-based education, settling (semi)permanently in the host country. This situation raises the issue of how the only child balances the opportunities in the West with the filial responsibilities to ageing parents back in China. Recognising the diversity of family forms, this study highlights the “human story” of ageing and intergenerational relations in families split between China and the UK. Drawing on 40 interviews, which included one-child migrants in the UK and some of their parents in China, this article explores the views of both generations. The findings indicate that international migration and increased family affluence did not lead to the erosion of filial piety. However, the practice and perception of filial piety among these families underwent a complex transition. Distance and borders posed future significant barriers for parental long-term care. One-child migrants tended to compensate for the lack of material/practical care by providing long-distance emotional care for their parents. Both generations expressed ambivalence towards this new transnational family contract. Instead of focusing on the practical outcomes, this article argues for the importance of examining how the members of transnational families perceive their filial behaviour. This focus brings out the less visible changing dynamics of intergenerational care in the context of modernisation and globalisation