Transcultural motherhood: A comparative study of Chinese and Southeast Asian female migrant spouses' involvements in their children's education in urban and rural Taiwan

This study looks at female migrant spouse's (FMS) involvement in their children's education in Taiwan. This phenomenon must however be seen within the context of international hypergamy, which has become an increasingly notable trend in many countries, especially those of East Asia. Female migrant spouses, coming to Taiwan chiefly from Southeast Asian countries and from Mainland China, often are depicted by the mainstream discourses of media, government, and school, and even in academic studies, as being incapable mothers, based strictly on their cultural-linguistic difference and arguably low socio-economic status. This study cautions against this assimilationist and structural-determinist viewpoint, for it often ignores the agency of the female marriage migrant by looking upon her degree of involvement in her children's education as being strictly the result of her linguistic capital or her family's socioeconomic status. The author seeks to reframe such studies by taking into account the female marriage migrant's active role in shaping her own unique adaptation strategy.;This study found that such factors as an FMM's cultural-linguistic background (native speaker or non-) and her locality (rural or urban) do not automatically determine her perception of, or degree of involvement in, her children's education. All factors, but most notably her own stocks of capital and the context of reception, and her perceptions of both of those, intertwine and work together to influence her formation of her unique adaptation strategy. Four adaptation strategies, what I called "modes of adaptation" are identified: Negotiation; Empowerment; Hopelessness; Resistance. Each mode of adaptation can be seen as a solidified worldview, in keeping with Bourdieu's concept of habitus which has been presented as a theoretical reference of this study. These women's modes of adaptation are something can be use as a barometer to gauge their attitude toward her children's school success. These four basic modes of adaptation have great influence on how the women view their children's education, and how they use their capital to shape a strategy that will help their children advance in school.