Date: 23 Mar 2022 (Wed)

Time: 12:30 – 14:00

Venue: Online via Zoom (Zoom link will be provided after registration.)

Speaker: Ms. LI, Lulu (Ph.D. Candidate, Gender Studies Programme, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Moderator: Prof. SONG, Jing (Associate Professor, Gender Studies Programme, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Abstract:

In the past decades, China’s market reforms have given rise to private business sectors as well as female entrepreneurship, but coastal and metropolitan areas are often regarded as having greater entrepreneurial opportunities than their inland counterparts. This study focuses on small inland cities, the commonly assumed lagging areas in China’s entrepreneurial dynamics, and examines how women in these areas pursue entrepreneurial aspirations and deal with gendered obstacles. This study draws on 41 in-depth interviews with female entrepreneurs in Henan and Guangxi, and examines the gendered process of doing business. Based on how they are motivated and carry out market activities, the interviewees are categorized into four types: 1) Women who were “aspiring” to embrace market opportunities in small cities despite the lack of local resources. 2) Women who allowed their self-realization to be shaped by family concerns and embraced a “serendipitous” entrepreneurship journey without readily available local resources. 3) Women who were “confident” due to their access to local resources as well as their entrepreneurial ambitions. 4) Women who relied on local resources to try out self-employed opportunities. The findings illustrate how women pursue self-realization by discovering market opportunities and mobilizing local resources in different ways. The findings add to previous studies on professional and business women in more developed areas by shifting the focus to the generally more conservative social environment in inland cities, where women negotiate their unique forms of entrepreneurship under competing ideologies and values.

Speaker’s Biography:

Li Lulu is a PhD candidate in Gender Studies Programme and Sociology at CUHK. Miss Li’s research interests locate in gender, work and family in mainland China, especially the inland areas of China. Her PhD thesis focuses on the gendered work of female entrepreneurs in two inland provinces of China.

Language: English

Registration: https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13646271