Trained as a sociologist of stratification, I mainly use qualitative research methods to examine how elite families enact intergenerational wealth transfer in contemporary China. My dissertation project focuses on how the process of social mobility, such as education, intertwines with spatial mobility/immigration activities. Specifically, I study 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 reveal how transnational immigration activity is situated in specific local institutions, such as foreign colleges and Chinese international high schools.
Currently, I am planning to embark on a side project about female inheritors of manufacturing factories in coastal China. Specifically, I study how these female entrepreneurs navigate a male-dominated business world after inheriting their family business.
Another side project of mine examines how elite Chinese youth educated in the West navigate the 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 from 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.
At DKU, I am collaborating with a team of social scientists on a pedagogical research project examining how in-class tech usage policies impact students and instructors’ mental well.
