Author: Le Nguyen Lan Chi
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Thesis no.GD-16-02
Year: 2016
Academic Program: Gender and Development Studies (GDS)
Type: Thesis (M.Sc.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2016
Examination Committee: Kyoko Kusakabe (Chairperson); Philippe Doneys, Vilas Nitivattananon (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: This study examines the linkage between gendered expectations and migration of Vietnamese women migrant care workers under the Japan-Vietnam Economic Partner Agreements. By using qualitative research and in-depth interviews with trainee care workers in both Vietnam and Japan, the study focuses on women migrant care workers’ initial motivations and expectations to participate in the JVEPA and their own perception of their working experience in Japan. The study finds out that gender is not only strongly associated with the likelihood of care workers’ migration, it also affects motivations for migration under the JVEPA. The motivations to participate the migration program are explained through three main factors: economic, social and facilitator factors. The impacts of gender on these factors are in line with the migration decision-making and women’s agency. The economic factors are intertwined with the social factors in terms of remittances. Remittances are considered the motivation for financially parental support which expresses an enactment of family attachment as an obligation as well as affects the daughters by bringing a sense of filial piety as an emotional attachment. There is a significant difference from the initial expectations prior to travel and the realities of working in Japan. Migrant care workers have a more positive view on the wages paid in Japanese caregiving institutes, and more negative about development and career opportunities than economic benefits. Despite having high qualifications or many years of work experience in nursing and caring in Vietnam, trainee care workers’ experience and qualifications are not recognized in Japan. Vietnamese trainee care workers not only involve in ‘dirty, dangerous and degrading’ jobs but also are becoming deskilled. These gendered expectations and big gap between expectations and realities have important implications for policy makers and trainers concerned with training sessions and the subsequent international migratio
Scholarship Donor(s): Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship
Note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Gender and Development Studies, School of Environment, Resources and Development
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