UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Asian Indian immigrant women in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area : work, home, and the construction of the self Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5jz3b525 Author Das, Ashidhara Publication Date 2006 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Asian Indian Immigrant Women in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area: Work, Home, and the Construction of the Self A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Ashidhara Das Committee in charge: Professor Suzanne Brenner, Chair Professor Frederick Bailey Professor Yen-Le Espiritu Professor Rosemary George Professor Tanya Luhrmann 2006 Copyright Ashidhara Das, 2006 All Rights Reserved. The dissertation of Ashidhara Das is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm: ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2006 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE.......................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES................................................................................................vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................viii VITA .....................................................................................................................................................x ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION..........................................................................................xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION............................................................................. 1 DESI DREAMS: INDIAN IMMIGRANT WOMEN BUILDING LIVES ACROSS WORLDS .......1 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS ......................................................................................................13 (a) Transnationalism, Globalization, and Diaspora Theories ........................................................13 (b) Immigration Theories ...................................................................................................................23 (c) Theories of Gender, Work, and Immigration ...............................................................................29 (d) Psychological Theories.................................................................................................................32 ASIAN INDIANS IN THE UNITED STATES : A HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL OVERVIEW ...........................................................................................................................................36 (a)The Early Sojourners....................................................................................................................38 (b) The Second World War Era .......................................................................................................40 (c)Immigration Reform of the 1960s ................................................................................................41 d)The Dot Busters ..............................................................................................................................41 (e)The Dot.Com Bust .........................................................................................................................46 (f)Conclusion of Statistical Overview...............................................................................................47 (g) Political Activity by Asian Indians..............................................................................................48 (h) From Lumberman to Software Engineer : More Continuity than Change in the Economic Structural Position of the Indian Immigrant...................................................................................50 FIELDWORK IN THE SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND-SAN JOSE AREA....................................53 METHODOLOGY AND PERCEPTIONS...........................................................................................56 CHAPTER TWO : IN SEARCH OF SUCCESS -- INDIAN IMMIGRANT WOMEN AT THE AMERICAN WORKPLACE....................................................... 62 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................62 COMMITTMENT TO A PROFESSIONAL CAREER ......................................................................65 MOTIVATIONS FOR WORK..............................................................................................................72 (a) Economic Motivation...................................................................................................................72 (b)Visa Status .....................................................................................................................................76 (c) Status Accumulation ....................................................................................................................76 (d) The Expectation to Make Use of One’s Education and Training ............................................80 (e) The Desire for Agency within the Immigrant Family ...............................................................82 (f) Conclusion of this Section ............................................................................................................83 SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AT THE WORKPLACE: CULTURE, ETHNICITY, RACE, AND GENDER.................................................................................................................................................84 JOB RETENTION AND ADVANCEMENT: MOTIVATION, GENDER, AND RACE .................92 WHO SUFFERS WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN? .......................................................................101 (a) Fallout of the Failure of the Dot.Com Industry and the Economic Slowdown on Asian Indian Immigrants in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Area..............................................102 PROFESSIONAL WOMEN IN INDIA ..............................................................................................115 (a) Ambivalence about Women’s Employment in India..............................................................116 (b) Motivations for Work among Professional Women in India .................................................119 (c) Gender Discrimination in the Workplace...................................................................................122 iv (d) Social Interaction at Work..........................................................................................................123 (e)Conservatism at Work / Standards of Female ‘Decency.............................................................124 (f) Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................125 PARTICIPATION IN THE AMERICAN WORKPLACE AND SELF / IDENTITY FORMATION ................................................................................................................................................................126 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................130 CHAPTER THREE : THE INDIAN IMMIGRANT PROFESSIONAL WORKING WOMAN AT HOME AND IN THE INDIAN IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY...... 132 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................132 CULTURE ............................................................................................................................................132 (a) The Indian Immigrant Home and Community: Women as the Bearers of Remixed Indian Cultural Heritage.............................................................................................................................132 (b) Cultural Authenticity...................................................................................................................140 (c) Racial Chauvinism ......................................................................................................................142 (d) Indian Immigrant Parents and First Generation American Children at Home and in the Community: A Clash of Cultures .....................................................................................................143 (e) Religious Zealots : Made in the United States............................................................................146 (f)Lack of Inclusiveness at Home and in the Community...............................................................147 (g) Language Usage at Home and in the Community .....................................................................151 AGENCY...............................................................................................................................................152 Women’s Empowerment at Home and in the Community: Indian Diasporic Cultural Deployment, Female Employment, and Agency............................................................................153