Biography

My research respondents in less-privileged areas and groups in China and Southeast Asia share a common desire: a longing for a life elsewhere. For many of them, education is regarded as a vital means of upward mobility, even if moving up usually means moving away and shifting one’s identity. How can we understand mobility and identity change, and what are their benefits and downsides? My previous research disentangled the intricate power dynamics in shaping different educational mobility in Asia. Building on this, my Ph.D. project investigates the emotional imprint of education-related mobility and elucidates the mechanisms of mobility in a transnational context composed of uneven modernities and entangled histories. My research training in politics, area studies, and sociology from Peking University and the University of Cambridge allows me to examine both structural forces and individual agencies in this era of social transformations. With support from the vibrant Gates community, I hope to use the insights of the social sciences to better understand identity-related struggles and foreground the diversity of the world.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Sociology 2021
Beijing University (Peking University) Politics and IR 2020