Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In recent decades, millions of Chinese women workers have migrated from their remote villages to the industrial factories in the modern cities, but little is known about their career development. The present study aimed to examine the diverse work experiences of young Chinese migrant women workers from the perspective of the Trajectory Equifinality Approach and the Chaos Theory of Careers. The semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with thirty-two Chinese women workers. We used thematic and ideal type analysis to analyze the interview data, and identified four distinct typologies based on the personal projects women workers were pursuing: Mothers, Family-Centered, Active Learners, and Money-Only. The findings deepen our understanding of the nuanced career experiences and dynamic interplay of the developmental tasks during emerging adulthood. By acknowledging the multiple career trajectories and integration between career and other life domains, the Trajectory Equifinality Approach and the Chaos Theory of Careers could inform policy makers to tailor the interventions that address the specific challenges faced by Chinese migrant women workers within broader socio-cultural contexts.

Keywords

career development personal projects trajectory equifinality approach chaos theory of careers ideal type analysis Chinese migrant women workers

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adler

N. E.

Epel

E. S.

Castellazzo

Ickovics

J. R.

(2000). Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy, white women. Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, 19(6), 586–592. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.19.6.586

Alok

Banerjee

Khan

M. A. R.

(2021). Building an inclusive talent pipeline: A study on women of the Indian informational technology sector. Journal of International Women's Studies, 22(4), 97–117.

Broadbent

Yuan

(2018). Employment inequality among women migrant workers in China: Comparative analysis from the 2014 Guangdong migrant workers survey. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 56(4), 518–538. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12180

Arnett

J. J.

(2016). Introduction: Emerging adulthood theory and research: Where we are and where we should go. In Arnett

J. J.

(Ed.), Oxford library of psychology: The Oxford handbook of emerging adulthood (pp. 1–7). Oxford University Press.

Arnett

J. J.

(2024). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties (3rd ed.) Oxford University Press.

Blustein

D. L.

Chaves

A. P.

Diemer

M. A.

Gallagher

L. A.

Marshall

K. G.

Sirin

Bhati

K. S.

(2002). Voices of the forgotten half: The role of social class in the school-to-work transition. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49(3), 311–323. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.49.3.311

Blustein

D. L.

Kozan

Connors-Kellgren

Rand

(2015). Social class and career intervention. In Hartung

P. J.

Savickas

M. L.

Walsh

W. B.

(Eds.), APA handbooks in psychology®: APA handbook of career intervention (1, pp. 243–257). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14438-014

Branje

Laninga-Wijnen

Meeus

(2014). Associations among school and friendship identity in adolescence and romantic relationships and work in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 6–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813515851

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

10.

Braun

Clarke

(2022). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. Qualitative Psychology, 9(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000196

11.

Chen

Q. Q.

Chen

M. T.

C. K. M.

Chan

K. L.

(2022). Stress in balancing work and family among working parents in Hong Kong. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), 5589. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095589

12.

Chen

W. H.

(2024). Raising retirement age an overdue move china daily. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202409/20/WS66eceb3aa3103711928a8e49.html

13.

Chen

Z. F.

Barcus

H. R.

(2024). The rise of home-returning women's entrepreneurship in China's rural development: Producing the enterprising self through empowerment, cooperation, and networking. Journal of Rural Studies, 105(1), Article 103156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103156

14.

Cho

Purtell

K. M.

(2020). Work and school in young adulthood: The role of personal financial responsibilities and parental social support. Youth & Society, 52(7), 1059–1082. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X18824721

15.

Cooke

F. L.

(2022). Changing lens: Broadening the research agenda of women in management in China. Journal of Business Ethics: Journal of Biological Education, 184(2), 375–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05105-1

16.

Cuzzocrea

(2020). A place for mobility in metaphors of youth transitions. Journal of Youth Studies, 23(1), 61–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.1703918

17.

Domene

J. F.

Nee

J. J.

Cavanaugh

A. K.

McLelland

Stewart

Stephenson

Kauffman

Tse

C. K.

Young

R. A.

(2012). Young adult couples transitioning to work: The intersection of career and relationship. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.03.005

18.

Facio

Resett

(2014). Work, romantic relationships, and life satisfaction in Argentinean emerging adults. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813515854

19.

Flum

(2015). Relationships and career development: An integrative approach. In Hartung

P. J.

Savickas

M. L.

Walsh

W. B.

(Eds.), APA handbooks in psychology: APA handbook of career intervention, volume 1: Foundations (pp. 145–158). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14438-009

20.

Gerhardt

(1994). The use of Weberian ideal-type methodology in qualitative data interpretation: An outline for ideal-type analysis. Bulletin of Sociological Methodology/Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique, 45(1), 74–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/075910639404500105

21.

Gobel

M. S.

Miyamoto

(2024). Self- and other-orientation in high rank: A cultural psychological approach to social hierarchy. Personality and Social Psychology Review: An Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc, 28(1), 54–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683231172252

22.

Hirschi

Shockley

K. M.

Zacher

(2019). Achieving work-family balance: An action regulation model. Academy of Management Review, 44(1), 150–171. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2016.0409

23.

Scott

(2014). Family and gender values in China: Generational, geographic, and gender differences. Journal of Family Issues, 37(9), 1267–1293. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X14528710

24.

ICBC provided one-stop services to 2 million small and micro enterprises last year. (2021). Industrial and commercial bank of China. https://www.icbc.com.cn/page/721852511593201667.html

25.

Ishikawa

(2007). Work identity in the Japanese context: Stereotype and reality. In Brown

Kirpal

Rauner

(Eds.), Identities at work (pp. 315–336). Springer.

26.

James

Mallman

Midford

(2021). University students, career uncertainty, and the culture of authenticity. Journal of Youth Studies, 24(4), 466–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2020.1742300

27.

Knapp

K. N.

(2004). Reverent caring: The parent-son relationship in early medieval tales of filial offspring. In Chan

A. K. L.

Tan

S.-H.

(Eds.), Filial piety in Chinese thought and history (pp. 44–70). Routledge.

28.

Knecht

Wiese

B. S.

Freund

A. M.

(2016). Going beyond work and family: A longitudinal study on the role of leisure in the work–life interplay. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37(7), 1061–1077. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2098

29.

Kuang

Zhong

Yang

P. Y.

Bai

X. R.

Liang

Y. L.

Cheval

Herold

Wei

G. X.

Taylor

Zhang

J. T.

Chen

Sun

Zou

L. Y.

Arnett

J. J.

(2023). Psychometric evaluation of the inventory of dimensions of emerging adulthood (IDEA) in China. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology: IJCHP, 23(1), Article 100331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2022.100331

30.

Kwok

C. Y. N.

(2018). Managing uncertainty in the career development of emerging adults: Implications for undergraduate students. Australian Journal of Career Development, 27(3), 137–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416217744216

31.

Lamont

(2000). The dignity of working men: Morality and the boundaries of race, class, and immigration: Harvard University Press.

32.

Lareau

(2018). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. In Grusky

Hill

(Eds.), Inequality in the 21st century (pp. 444–451): Routledge.

33.

Ling

T. J.

O'Brien

K. M.

(2013). Connecting the forgotten half: The school-to-work transition of noncollege-bound youth. Journal of Career Development, 40(4), 347–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845312455506

34.

Little

B. R.

(2000). Persons, contexts, and personal projects: Assumptive themes of a methodological transactionalism. In Wapner

Demick

Yamamoto

Minami

(Eds.), Theoretical perspectives in environment-behavior research: Underlying assumptions, research problems, and methodologies (pp. 79–88). Kluwer Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4701-3_8

35.

Little

B. R.

(2020). How are you doing, really? Personal project pursuit and human flourishing. Canadian Psychology / Psychologie Canadienne, 61(2), 140–150. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000213

36.

Little

B. R.

Balsari-Palsule

(2021). Fates beyond traits: The dynamics and impacts of personal project pursuit. In Rauthmann

(Ed.), The handbook of personality dynamics and processes (pp. 323–344): Academic Press.

37.

Little

B. R.

Salmela-Aro

Phillips

(2007). Personal project pursuit: Goals, action and human flourishing: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

38.

Lyra

M. C. D. P.

de Melo Valério

T. A.

Wagoner

(2018). Pathways to life course changes: Introducing the concept of avenues of directive meaning. Culture & Psychology, 24(4), 443–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X18779060

39.

Jacobs

(2010). Poor but not powerless: Women workers in production chain factories in China. Journal of Adolescent Research, 25(6), 807–838. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558410371124

40.

Mayseless

Keren

(2014). Finding a meaningful life as a developmental task in emerging adulthood: The domains of love and work across cultures. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813515446

41.

Mehta

C. M.

Arnett

J. J.

Palmer

C. G.

Nelson

L. J.

(2020). Established adulthood: A new conception of ages 30 to 45. American Psychologist, 75(4), 431–444. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000600

42.

Menhart

(2024). Trajectory equifinality model and German research on women’s self-negotiation of perceived normativity in a Western society. Culture & Psychology, 0(0), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X241226455

43.

Mortimer

J. T.

Lam

Lee

S.-R.

(2015). Transformation, erosion, or disparity in work identity? Challenges during the contemporary transition to adulthood. In McLean

K. C.

Syed

(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of identity development (pp. 319–336). Oxford University Press.

44.

National Bureau of Statistics of China . (2024). Nongmingong jian ce diao cha bao Gao The report on 2023 national survey of rural migrant workers. https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202404/t20240430_1948783.html

45.

Pan

Y. L.

(2023). It is difficult to balance research and teaching time, let alone family: An analysis of women's experiences working as academics in contemporary Chinese universities Ddctoral thesis. University of York.

46.

Perry

J. C.

Wallace

(2013). Career issues and social class. In Liu

W. M.

(Ed.), Oxford library of psychology: The Oxford handbook of social class in counseling (pp. 81–102). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195398250.013.0005

47.

Petersen

Hyde

J. S.

(2014). Gender-related academic and occupational interests and goals. In Liben

L. S.

Bigler

R. S.

(Eds.), Advances in child development and behavior: Vol. 47: The role of gender in educational contexts and outcomes (pp. 43–76). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2014.04.004

48.

Pryor

R. G. L.

Bright

J. E. H.

(2011). The chaos theory of careers: Routledge.

49.

Pryor

R. G. L.

Bright

J. E. H.

(2014). The chaos Theory of Careers (CTC): Ten years on and only just begun. Australian Journal of Career Development, 23(1), 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416213518506

50.

Ranta

Dietrich

Salmela-Aro

(2014). Career and romantic relationship goals and concerns during emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813515852

51.

Sato

Mori

Valsiner

(Eds.), (2016). Advances in cultural psychology: Constructing human development: Making of the future: The trajectory equifinality approach in cultural psychology. IAP Information Age Publishing.

52.

Sato

Tsuchimoto

Yasuda

Kido

(2021). Jaan valsiner in Japan: The trajectory equifinality approach (TEA). In Wagoner

Christensen

B. A.

Demuth

(Eds.), Culture as process: A tribute to Jaan Valsiner (pp. 443–453). Springer.

53.

Sato

Yasuda

Kanzaki

Valsiner

(2014). From describing to reconstructing life trajectories: How the TEA (trajectory equifinality approach) explicates context-dependent human phenomena. In Wagoner

Chaudhary

Hviid

(Eds.), Cultural psychology and its future: Complementarity in a new key (pp. 93–105). IAP Information Age Publishing.

54.

Schultheiss

D. E. P.

(2003). A relational approach to career counseling: Theoretical integration and practical application. Journal of Counseling and Development, 81(3), 301–310. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2003.tb00257.x

55.

Seiffge-Krenke

Luyckx

(2014). Competent in work and love? Emerging adults’ trajectories in dealing with work–partnership conflicts and links to health functioning. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 48–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813516090

56.

Seiffge-Krenke

Luyckx

Salmela-Aro

(2014). Work and love during emerging adulthood: Introduction to the special issue. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813516091

57.

Shorey

Chan

(2021). The experiences and needs of Asian older adults who are socially isolated and lonely: A qualitative systematic review. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 92, Article 104254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2020.104254

58.

Shulman

Laursen

Dickson

D. J.

(2014). Gender differences in the spillover between romantic experiences, work experiences, and individual adjustment across emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 36–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813515853

59.

Staff

Mortimer

J. T.

(2024). Work experience and mental health from adolescence to mid-life. Social forces; a scientific medium of social study and interpretation, 103(1), 305–326. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soae067

60.

Stapley

O’Keeffe

Midgley

(2022). Developing typologies in qualitative research: The use of ideal-type analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21(1), Article 16094069221100633. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221100633

61.

Stapley

Target

Midgley

(2017). The journey through and beyond mental health services in the United Kingdom: A typology of parents’ ways of managing the crisis of their teenage child's depression. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(10), 1429–1441. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22446

62.

Tian

Sun

(2018). The impacts of city-specific factors on social integration of Chinese migrant workers: A study using multilevel modeling. Journal of Urban Affairs, 41(3), 324–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2017.1406786

63.

Tsuchimoto

Sato

(2024). Career decision-making as dynamic semiosis: Autoethnographic trajectory equifinality modeling. Culture & Psychology, 30(1), 48–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X221140609

64.

van Dulmen

M. H. M.

Claxton

S. E.

Collins

W. A.

Simpson

J. A.

(2014). Work and love among emerging adults: Current status and future directions. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 59–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813516092

65.

Wang

Conesa

J. C.

(2022). The role of demographics and migration for the future of economic growth in China. European Economic Review, 144(1), Article 104076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104076

66.

Wang

Y. S.

(2009). The impact of career identity on career development: A cross-cultural comparison among Chinese and Dutch teachers. University of Twente. [Unpublished master's thesis].

67.

Weber

(1949). Objectivity in social science and social policy. In Shils

E. A.

Finch

H. A.

(Eds.), The methodology of the social sciences (pp. 49–112): Free Press.

68.

Yuan

Cooke

F. L.

Fang

(2023). Can female executives improve employment relations outcomes? Empirical evidence from China with gender implications. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 46(1), 76–98. https://doi.org/10.1108/er-01-2023-0001

69.

Zhang

(2017). Negotiating work life and family life: Young mothers in contemporary China Doctoral thesis. University of York.

70.

Zhao

Liu

X. H.

(2010). Nong min gong jiu ye yu she hui bao zhang yan jiu A study on the employment and social security of peasant workers china labor and social security. Publishing House.

71.

Zhong

Arnett

J. J.

(2014). Conceptions of adulthood among migrant women workers in China. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 38(3), 255–265. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025413515133

72.

Zhong

Arnett

J. J.

(2018). I felt like there would be a vast sky out there the leaving home decisions of Chinese migrant women workers. International Perspectives in Psychology, 7(3), 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1037/ipp0000088

73.

Zhu

Cooke

F. L.

Chen

Sun

(2022). How inclusive is workplace gender equality research in the Chinese context? Taking stock and looking ahead. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(1), 99–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2021.1988680

Career Projects of Young Chinese Migrant Women Workers

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References