My research interests include migration, gender, work, and family in both China and Canada. The first theme of my current research focuses on relationship formation during the digital era with the rise of immigration. In a second research area, I seek to understand the migration decision-making processes of international students in Canada. My other research also examines the intersections between work and family.

Lui, Lake, Manlin Cai, and Yue Qian. Forthcoming. “Comfortably ‘Western’: How Chinese International Students Imagine Canada.” Canadian Ethnic Studies.

Fuller, Sylvia, Manlin Cai, and Donna Lero. Online first. “The Work/Care Interface and Parents’ Mid-Pandemic Mental Health: Inequalities at the Intersection of Gender and High-Health-Risk Household Status.” Society and Mental Health.

Cai, Manlin. 2023. “For the Sake of Parents? Marriages of Convenience between Lesbians and Gay Men in China.” LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal 19(3): 211-227.

Cai, Manlin and Yue Qian. 2023. “Digital Ethnic Enclaves: Mate Preferences and Platform Choices Among Chinese Immigrant Online Daters in Vancouver.” Canadian Review of Sociology 60(1): 130-153.

Qin, Siqi, Manlin Cai, Sylvia Fuller, and Yue Qian. 2022. “Gender, Parenthood and Employment During COVID-19: An Immigrant-Native Born Comparison in Canada.” Canadian Ethnic Studies 54(3): 63-108.

Qian, Yue, Yang Shen, and Manlin Cai. 2022. “Gendered Age Preferences for Potential Partners: A Mixed-Methods Study Among Online Daters in Shanghai.” Chinese Sociological Review 54(3): 304-331.