Conversations with Chinese new immigrant women: their adjustment experiences and its implications for social service

Abstract

The Chinese in New Zealand are a distinct minority group. As a result of a change of immigration policy in 1987, recent new immigrants share quite a different profile compared with prior settlers who came with clan associations a century ago. They are supposed to have the capacity for successful settlement because of their entrepreneurship and professional skills. However, the lack of post-settlement and kin support in the destination country make their settlement not an easy one. This study explores the settlement experience of Chinese immigrant women currently living in Wellington. This research has come about primarily for two reasons: the first is my own interest in learning more about my people here; the second is the desire to empower Chinese immigrants to achieve a better quality of life in New Zealand. The research involves five adult women who migrated to New Zealand in the past ten years. All interviewees were invited to participate through personal networks. They come from the same place of origin i.e. Hong Kong where Cantonese is the dominant language. As an immigrant woman myself, I also share my personal experiences as part of the study. The main research method undertaken was face-to-face interviews. Focus-group meetings were also used to identify significant topics or issues shared by the participants. Strengths and weaknesses of such a design is further discussed in the methodology and ethical implications. Feminist Standpoint Theory is referred to as the theoretical perspective of the project, because it is regarded as preferable for studying women as a marginalised minority group in society. In many situations, women's experience of being studied by a woman of the same ethnic group may result in more accurate interpretation. As the research explores and presents the experiences of Chinese immigrant women in New Zealand, the focus of data collection is about how it is being 'Chinese' in an English speaking country, their reasons for migration, and the strategies they use to participate in the destination country. Confined by the research design and theoretical framework, generalisability of the result is limited to a certain extent. However, generalisability is not the aim of the study. What the project really achieves is to let the women immigrants speak for themselves. As there is limited research on this group of people, a study that expresses the particular experiences of Chinese immigrant women may help to enrich New Zealanders' general understanding as well as their acceptance of this ethnic group. Social service for immigrants is another concern for me. Reflections and recommendations arising from the research are made.