Mobility of the educated: Taiwanese migrants in Dongguan and Jakarta

Abstract

Studies on migration, education and social mobility are usually discussed in three separate fields. This article presents the overlap of these three fields by discussing how Taiwanese migrants in Dongguan and Jakarta perceive the educational opportunities for their children and the ethnic-based status for themselves. The study finds that for people from middle- and working-class families, migration overseas to less developed countries is a good opportunity to obtain higher socio-economic status and an upward mobility path for their children. However, the opportunity also creates unexpected anxieties. The privileges that these migrants obtain and the anxieties they have illustrate opportunity traps for these middling migrants.