| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,350,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2007: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
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| Research Abstract |
This research is based on the fieldwork conducted between 2005-2007 in Chennai, Southern India. Based on face to face interviews, detailed questionnaires, and the analysis of matrimonial advertisements in the newspaper, the transformation of the concept of marital choices among young women who are working in IT sector has become very clear. Among them, caste membership is not necessarily an absolute criteria but is one of the markers included in the status index, which is less important than their predecessors. IT sector is a new field in the job market which came to exist after the economic boom of India in the 1990s. In this sector, young professional women (as well as men) are given unprecedented economic independence and high social status which allow them to pursue their career and their lifestyle. While former marital selections among young professional were based on arranged marriages led by elders in the kin (caste) group, women working in such a new sector are less influenced by their elders. Instead, they are more influenced by their peer groups which are formed in colleges and workplaces. Peer groups influence not only their social relationships, lifestyles, but also their marital choices. This is also clearly noticeable among highly educated young women who put matrimonial advertisements in the newspaper for their desirable grooms as they mention caste far less. Pierre Bourdieu's 'distinction' or the process of differentiation as an index of class formation is obvious as they recognize them as social capital and economic capital. Their pursuit of higher education, specialized job sector, as well as their choice of lifestyles and purposes of life are the indicators of such recognition. To sum, India's highly educated women such as those working in IT sector are clearly changing their marital strategies.
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