Description of the integration initiative implemented
Lemei arrived in France for her master degree in joint supervision between her university in China and a university in France. She obtained a French language bachelor degree and this makes her life in France much easier and this joint supervision agreement of her universities had spared her the administrative complications (visa, residence permit, etc.). After her Master degree, she chose to move to Paris, stay in France and continue her studies.

She kept in touch with the people she had met in China when she was a freelance interpreter during her university studies : entrepreneurs, researchers, etc. She also stayed in touch with representatives of the Chambers of Commerce that she had known when she was working in the French Consulate in China. This network helped her a lot in France and informed her about the entities that could help her to find a job and also and accommodation, as Lemei didn’t obtain a place in university residences in Paris. One of her contacts introduced her to an agency specialized in finding babysitters who speak several languages. She was hired by a family who were looking for a trilingual (Chinese, English and French speaking) babysitter for their son born in Hong Kong during their expatriate stay.
At the same time, she had found a job as an au-pair, thanks to the network of Catholic and Protestant churches serving as an information platform and intermediary agency between middle-class families and people looking for house jobs (house keeper, cleaning, babysitting, etc.), although she was not religious. This second job gave her a place to live in Paris, because she had been hosted for a few months by her Chinese university friends who had moved to Paris before her.

She obtained a scholarship for her doctoral studies after her master degree. She could finally quit the two part-time jobs and moved to a small studio on the private market, thanks to her French friends known in China who acted as guarantors for her lease, without which she would not have been able to have accommodation in her own name.
After the scholarship, she was employed for a research mission by a social work association in France, as she was doing research on social work in China and her case was supported by her acquaintances at the university vis-à-vis this association. She is hired after her research mission and her PhD degree by the same association and becomes a permanent employee in the social work services.
After a long period of hesitation and tug-of-war, Lemei decided to apply for French nationality and she got it after 2 years waiting. This means that she has to give up her Chinese nationality since PRC don’t recognize double nationalities for their citizens. For her, this is a very difficult choice, that matured in several years on her own identity. It is for her a choice that means a simpler life with the administration in France, compared to the difficulties she experienced in renewing her residence permit.
Unlike many of her Chinese friends, who are the only child. Often, they are under pressure from their parents who want them to return to China after their studies in France. But Lemei's parents have always supported her in her decisions: to go to France, to stay in France, to become French; to do a thesis, although a PhD degree represents a great obstacle to find a husband in China.
In Lemei's trajectory, her higher education diplomas in France and China, her network of acquaintances, her language skills, and the support of her family are essential elements in her integration in France. We also underline the role of the Internet in her autonomy to find information: various discussion forums and new initiatives for mutual aid and meetings (Esperanto group/coach surfing/co-voiturage, etc.).

Personal story
Born in a small-town, Lemei’s parents are both teachers in middle and high school. She belongs to the generation of the only child and is born in the 1980s, without being one only-child: she is the second child in the family and has an older brother. Her birth was at odds with the prevailing mentality in China at the time, when most people wanted a boy to inherit the family lineage. Her birth is incomprehensible and "illogical" because it is costly: her parents were expelled from the Communist Party, suspended from their teaching position and had to pay a large fine. Her birth cost almost the efforts of his parents' social ascension, they are children of peasants who succeeded in school and became teachers. Her family invested heavily in the children's education, without distinction between boys and girls.
Lemei entered one of the best universities in China. She chose what she wanted to study: foreign languages - French, German, Spanish, Japanese or English. She was admitted to the French language department, the first choice on her list.
During her university studies, she worked as an interpreter to support her life needs. She had different clients: universities, training centers, consular services, business companies, chambers of commerce, researchers, etc. From the consulate to small Malian traders in China, from grassroots NGOs to multinational companies, Lemei has discovered several worlds that she did not know from school textbooks. And some of her "clients" at that time became resource persons once she arrived in France.
Lemei didn’t have enough money to go to France immediately after her Bachelor degree, as she would love to. She accepted the university scholarship and continued her studies in master degree, even though she didn’t want to become a teacher after her master degree, as many did. For her, becoming a successful businesswoman in a multinational company would allow her to earn more money and succeed in life more quickly. Without really knowing why, she agreed to postpone this businesswoman project. She remembers her father's advice that the diplomas worth more than the money and that she would have been more successful as a businesswoman with a Master degree than with a Bachelor degree. She had no idea that she would be chosen to go to France to fulfill her second year of Master degree.
She made her decision to leave China, without having the same fear as her friends: missing out on a good job by missing the collective recruitment dates at the university campus (in February/March), since their return to China was expected in June. For her family, going into debt so that she can leave is not a burden, but on the contrary, as her father considers that go to France is a wonderful opportunity for her and it cannot be measured by money: neither the living expenses, nor the potential loss of the perfect job when returning to China.
Lemei's first year experiences in France pushed her to stay in France: she spent one year in the same classes and the same residence with other Chinese students. She didn’t have much opportunity to meet French students and discover French society. She wanted to go to Paris and make another life: she chose the sociology and this training marked her awareness of her personal history, of women’s situation in China.
During her several fieldwork stays in Chine, she realized gradually her desire to escape the norms imposed on Chinese women: if she returns to China, she is "too educated and too old" to find a husband and would be a "leftover woman" thus unwanted in the marriage market; she does not adhere well to the normative criteria of success focus on wealth; and she is afraid of the change in her life in the authoritarian political context where her quest for freedom has a high price.
Lemei never sought to integrate into the Chinese community in France, she never need to and she did not want to be caught up in the dual Chinese and French norms. By staying in France, Lemei thinks she can choose her way of life without being rejected or judged. Being a foreigner allows her to obtain freedom despite the ambivalence it represents.

She works in an association that provides assistance to people in difficulty. She observes that her colleagues, who have an immigrant background like her, have as many difficulties as their association’s services clients: they can have the same problem to get a resident permit, an administrative document or access to social rights.
Her decision to become French stems from this reflective process on her personal identity and also from the many difficulties she had in renewing her residence permit. She refuses the idea of obtaining a residence permit through marriage because, for her, this solution facilitates administrative procedures but complicates the position and role of the woman in a love relationship.
"My Chinese name does not indicate my gender. I indicate my gender in French words where the feminine form does not exist, but at the same time I love the moments when I am referred to as Mister without wanting to correct them. I take pleasure in the fact that I can be a man or a woman whenever I want; just as I am a foreigner but also French in France, I remain Chinese but also a foreigner in China”.

Analysis of the initiative and individual story
Lemei's story shows the importance of high education as the resources to facilitate her integration in France. She has a privileged background and encounters fewer administrative constraints in France with her diplomas and a network of acquaintances built up from China, compared to people who do not speak the language and/or have fewer diplomas or qualifications. Her first university experience in France had locked her into a group of Chinese students who had a similar profile to her. This experience became a moment of awareness for her. Lemei's awareness counts also on her academic background, particularly in the social sciences. Her reflections on women’s role in her country as well as in France help her to make decisions in her personal life choices.
Benefiting from social ascension through education, her parents transgressed the one-child policy to bring her into the world. They did not deprive her of higher education in favor of the boy child as many rural parents did. In every choice in her life, her family played a supportive role, not a guilt-inducing one.
The qualifications and opportunities Lemei may have in China make her return to China quite possible and her choice to stay in France is more a quest for freedom and a desire to escape the norms that are demeaning to educated women like her.
Employment is another essential factor in her integration in France and is an essential criterion for measuring her integration in the eyes of the French administration. Having a permanent work contract means statutory and financial stability and a contribution to the host society.

Results and Impact
- Mastering the language of the host country is an inescapable condition for acquiring autonomy of action by escaping intermediaries;

- Access to education favors the social ascension of women from modest social strata. It allows them to escape from standardized destinies and thus facilitates their quest for freedom and emancipation;

- Universities and the university network are also resources and provide support and openness to women from other countries;

- Foreigners face more difficulties in the French labor market due to higher social charges than French employees. Migrant women have to mobilize more assets and resources to be able to get a contract in the diversified segments of the labor market, in the less qualified sectors as high qualified activities.