| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立清華大學 === 社會學研究所 === 105 === With recent expansion of the higher education policy in China, the number of female PhD students in China has increased significantly. However, during the years of their graduate studies, at their late twenties to early thirties, it is also the period in which they face great social pressure to get married. Therefore, their marital status has become a great concern in the Chinese society. There is a popular saying widely spread in China society: “There are three kinds of people—male, female and the third kind of person.” Female PhDs in China are generally considered to be hard to find a suitable man to get married and they are categorized as “the third kind of person.” They are stigmatized by the government, the social media, and the public in China.
Based on qualitative research, I interviewed 14 female PhD/ students in Beijing by asking their attitudes toward and experiences of love, criteria of choosing a spouse, marriage, schooling and work. This research finds that although the female PhDs in China have the culture capital, they still indirectly suffer stigmatization by their high education and achievements. A paradoxical view of female PhDs appear in the Chinese society: On the one hand, the status of PhD is respected; on the other hand, the identity of female PhDs is disregarded, particularly related to their marital status.
I found that Chinese female PhDs are struggling with their traditional and modernist views on marriage in particular and life in general. Through high education, they gain social and economic independence but shaped by Chinese traditional culture, they feel that marriage is very crucial if it is not the most important matter to fulfill their life. Many of them are willing to sacrifice their career for their marriage and family. Many of them make their career decisions according to the conditions of their intimate and family life. Against the conventional belief in Chinese society that female PhDs tend to remain single, my finding suggests that many of them actually get married eventually. By calling Chinese female PhDs as “the third kind of person,” the Chinese society shows that it is still a highly patriarchal society. Highly achieved female professional, like the ones who have gained a PhD degree, still live a rather restricted life regarding intimate and working conditions in today’s China.
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