I am Associate Professor in Sociology at UCL Social Research Institute (2025–), where I also act as the Academic Head of Learning and Teaching, leading interdisciplinary postgraduate education across Sociology, Social Policy, Social Research Methods and Data Science.
My research examines family and work changes and inequalities in global contexts, including:
- Intersectional inequalities in family and work lives across the lines of gender, sexuality, ethnicity/race, age, migrant status, and social class.
- The implications of digitalisation and AI (artificial intelligence) for family and work lives and inequalities.
- The role of crises (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters) in reproducing existing and giving rise to new forms of intersectional inequalities in family and work lives.
I take two approaches to the “global” in my research – the first features a cross-national comparative scope and the second focuses on transnational mobilities. My recent research has been published in journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Gender & Society, Demography, Journal of Marriage and Family, European Sociological Review, and British Journal of Sociology, among others. My research has frequently been recognised through international awards and most-read/cited status.
My research has received funding (£1.6+ million) from the UKRI/ESRC (UK), SSHRC (Canada), British Academy (UK), HEFCE (UK), and Nuffield Foundation (UK). I am a member of the ESRC (UK) Assessor and Peer Review Colleges, and I regularly serve as a panel member/reviewer for international funding bodies, including NWO (Netherlands), ERC (Europe), SSHRC (Canada), and SNSF (Switzerland).
I am a member of the UK 2029 REF (Research Excellence Framework) sub-panel for Sociology and co-director of the Early Career Fellowship Program at the Work and Family Researchers Network (2024–). I serve on the editorial boards of the Journal of Marriage and Family (2020–), Sociology Compass (2020–), Chinese Sociological Review (2026–), and previously Sociology (2020–2022). I am also a member of the UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab (2023–), and have been named in the Stanford-Elsevier World’s Top 2% Scientists list for citations since 2022.
Before joining UCL, I was Professor of Global Sociology (2022–2025), Associate Professor (2019–2022) and Assistant Professor (2016–2019) at Lancaster University, UK, where I remain an honorary fellow at the Lancaster University China Centre. My leadership in global digital innovation and international partnerships was recognised through two University Staff Awards (“International Impact of the Year”) and one Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Dean’s Staff Award at Lancaster University.
I was an early-career fellow at the Work and Family Researchers Network (2018–2019). I obtained my MPhil and PhD (with no corrections) in Sociology from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College, 2015), fully funded by the Gates Cambridge Trust, and my BA from Zhejiang University, China (2010).