Understanding and Supporting Migrant Chinese Families through Dissemination and Network Building

My PhD explored the complexities of everyday migrant family life, through a critical intercultural lens. In doing so, I provided an important contribution to knowledge by presenting a deeper understanding of the intercultural intergenerational complexities within migrant families. Although focusing on the case of Chinese families in the UK, my findings have value beyond the UK-Chinese communities and can contribute to understandings of migrant families in general. This fellowship will provide me with the means to publish my findings which will allow me to make a contribution to the fields of intercultural communication, migration and family, within the broader field of education. I will be consolidating my PhD research and establishing my career as a researcher on migration and family within the fields of intercultural communication and education. I will spend half of my time working on the dissemination of my findings through publication of written work. I plan to work on two journal articles and one book chapter. The two journal articles will highlight the conceptual and empirical contributions of my PhD, and the book chapter will highlight some implications for practitioners who are supporting migrant learners and their families. By the end of the fellowship, I aim to have had one article accepted, and one article submitted. I also will have submitted my book chapter. I will spend most of my remaining time on other forms of dissemination and networking activities. I will attend and present at academic conferences and events to discuss the findings from my PhD. Through these events, I will be engaging with researchers within my field, and making an impact by sharing my findings and conceptual contributions. Through these events, I will also be able to develop my networks and open doors for possible future collaborations. Apart from academic networks, I will also be disseminating my findings with local Chinese communities which were the focus of my PhD. These dissemination activities through workshops with families, and talks with community groups, will be done through community languages. This will allow for impact with marginalised communities who otherwise would not have access to academic research. These community talks aim to support migrant families who may be dealing with intergenerational communication challenges. I will also be building networks with local community groups which are supporting new Hong Kong migrants who have arrived in the UK over the past four years. Since 2021, over 130,000 Hong Kong residents have migrated to the UK through a humanitarian visa route. Through my engagement with this community, I have become aware of their needs, which are similar to that of my PhD participants when they first arrived in the UK. I will share my work with these community groups with the aim of supporting new migrant families which will create immediate social impact. Lastly, I will be working on a larger funding proposal to further continue my work on migrant family issues, which will further establish my career as a researcher. The networks I make with Hong Kong community groups, in addition to a trip to Hong Kong to understand the context, will support my writing of a larger proposal on the settlement experiences of Hong Kong BNO migrants to the UK. This will be submitted by the end of the fellowship.