Identity challenged: Taiwanese women migrating to Australia

This article investigates the experiences of Taiwanese women who migrated to Australia between 1980 and 2005. It is part of a larger project about the migration experiences of Taiwanese women who moved to Australia and to Canada with the aim of providing a direction for facilitating cultural transition for future female migrants. The article presents some of the findings from 21 semi-structured interviews which were conducted between July and October 2011, shedding light on the role that gender, age at the time of migration and family situation play in debates around cultural identity and the place of Taiwanese women in Australia. Relational-cultural theory serves as the theoretical framework for the central argument that – in spite of the differences between younger women and those in their 30s and 40s in relation to the motivation to migrate and ways to connect – the ability to build new relationships in Australia while maintaining existing ones in Taiwan is essential to establishing a positive view of self, and consequently to successful migration.