Abstract:
This was a generational study on Japanese American women that
evaluated Hill's propositions regarding discontinuity in values and acceleration
of achievement in occupational level across generations. The domains
examined were 1) elder care, 2) family structure, and 3) employment &
occupation. It was hypothesized that there will be differences between the
second and third generations, that there will be a trend towards greater
discontinuity in traditional Japanese values and rules across Japanese
American generations in elder care, family structure, and employment. Further,
it was hypothesized that there will be an advancement in occupational level
across these generations.
A survey instrument incorporating both close and open-ended questions
was used to explore these research statements and hypotheses. Participants
for this study included 168 Japanese American women in Northwestern region,
mainly Oregon (89 second generation and 79 third generation). Quantitative
methodologies were employed to analyze the data obtained from self-administered
questionnaires.
Results revealed a mixed support to Hill's intergenerational propositions.
For example, second generation women lean towards non-traditional attitudes
with regard to elder care but were more traditional with regard to women's
employment, particularly for mothers of small children. This could reflect a
complicated process in which second generation women draw on the traditional
value of sacrificial motherhood and extend it throughout the lifecourse by
adjusting it through their own caregiving experiences to their elderly parents: an
example of how an unique synthesis emerges out of the conflicting old and new
ideas. Such finding gives an important indication that generational change is
not of linear characteristics as Hill suggests but of non-linear one.
