Developing a feminist identity among elite female students in a Chinese university: a qualitative study

The aim of this study is to investigate the forms, significance and effects of feminist identity development among elite young women in a Chinese university environment. Based on fieldwork conducted over 11 months in a Chinese public university with a predominately male student body, this study explores the gendered experiences of eight female student leaders. It finds that there is a contradiction in the participants’ identity construction process. On the one hand, these young Chinese women construct a collective identity which is both distant from an elite identity and conforms to several traditional or dominant discourses. On the other hand, they resort to individual efforts to realise their life aspirations rather than participating in collective feminist movements. Such ways of identity construction and the presence of such a significant contradiction can point to the new space and future direction for young women struggling to achieve gender equality in China. Drawing on psychological and sociological theories in feminist studies, this study suggests that participants are actively involving themselves in global feminisms to realise their individual dreams. The study makes an important contribution to feminist knowledge by providing a non-Western, non-English speaking perspective to feminist identity development.