(In-Person) Grad Student Power Hour: Monica Manlin Cai

Monica Manlin Cai is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. She is a student fellow at the UBC Centre for Migration Studies. Her research interests include family and work, gender, migration, and social inequality in Chinese and Canadian societies. She recently published a paper in Canadian Review of Sociology, which examines Chinese immigrants’ partner preferences in online dating and the emergence of digital ethnic enclaves (https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12414). She also co-authored a paper that illuminates how the pandemic exacerbated labour market inequalities at the intersection of gender, parenthood, and immigrant status. This article is published in Canadian Ethic Studies (https://doi.org/10.1353/ces.2022.0025).

Abstract

The number of students from China who cross borders for higher education has grown rapidly. One of their most popular study destinations is Canada. Why do they choose Canada among other countries? Where will they go after their graduation given the COVID-19 disruptions to their education and socializing activities, China’s dramatically changing pandemic responses, and Canada’s loosened immigration policies? Drawing on longitudinal in-depth interviews, this ongoing research examines the migration decision-making of Chinese international students in Canada. This presentation will discuss preliminary results about how Chinese international students imagine and perceive Canada in international hierarchies of education, politics, and economy. This research will illuminate student migrants’ dynamic processes of formulating mobility plans during the crucial school-to-work transition period and contextualize individual migration decision-making in the broader, changing, and globalized social context.