Shanghai
I represent Shanghai because I am motivated to reveal how the city’s economically developed image overshadows the systematic exclusion of over five million migrant workers.
I am exploring how the hukou system and gender norms create a narrative of exclusion for new-generation female migrant workers, who are torn between urban labor and maternal roles. I want to trace their downward shift from relative autonomy to the dilemmas of family division caused by a lack of access to public education and social welfare. My research justifies the need for systemic reform by addressing the legal and ethical injustices faced by those who fuel the city’s growth.
This story matters because female migrant workers are a unique demographic whose hardships are often ignored in generalized research, leading to inapplicable policies. Their experiences serve as a mirror through which we can observe the social and structural inequalities of rapid urbanization.
—Hannah Li
Haiyue (Hannah) Li
Chapter Leader
Team leader, interviewer, and biography writer. Current senior in high school. Born and raised in Shanghai. Her academic interests include sociology, physics, and women’s studies. Outside of working, she can be found debating, or, more often, taking a nap.
We examine the social and legal barriers––rooted in Confucian patriarchal norms and China’s hukou (household registration) system–– that force new-generation female migrant workers in Shanghai to choose between motherhood and career, drawing on literature and ethnography composed by and about migrant women.
Team Members
Gefei (Teresa) Zhang
Interviewer and biography writer in the team. Current senior in high school. Born and raised in Shanghai, now living there with her family and cat. Academically, she is interested in psychology, sociology, and women’s studies.When not working, she can be found making handcrafts or taking recharging long naps.
Yining (Liz) Li
Biography writer in the team. A high school junior originally from Beijing, now calling Singapore home. She's drawn to international relations, regional studies, and sociology — subjects that speak to her curiosity about how people and places connect.