Trained as a sociologist of stratification, I mainly use qualitative research methods to examine how the process of social mobility, such as education, intertwines with spatial mobility/immigration activities. Specifically, my dissertation project focuses on how elite families from recently developed economies, such as China, navigate transnational higher education. Focusing on their decision-making and preparation processes for overseas education, this study aims to reveals how transnational immigration activity is situated in specific local institutions, such as foreign colleges and Chinese international high schools.
Another side project of mine examines how elite Chinese youth educated in the West navigate Japanese labor market and society through a recently established work visa program (J-Find). This project aims to enrich our understanding of East Asian immigrants’ racialization experiences in a cultural racism perspective.
My broad research interests are social stratification, sociology of culture, sociology of organization, global/transnational education, international migration, transnational Asia/Asian America, and contemporary China.
Ruiyi Li 