Visiting Researcher - Dr. Maoqing Yang

Urban Social Integration of Ethnic Minority Migrant Children: An Empirical Analysis of H City in China

Abstract: This presentation focuses on urban social integration of ethnic minority migrant children in China by investigating 616 children in H City in Southwest China. The findings show that ethnic minority migrant children have a reasonable integration into urban society and there is no significant difference among different groups, but their urban social integration can be affected by individual factors, families and schools. In terms of individual factors, their urban social integration is related to gender, age and identity. In terms of family factors, it is related to parental style and care. In terms of school factors, it is influenced by the degree of their favor over teachers, teachers’ attention, peer group sizes and the friendship styles. This study suggests that a) policies should be fully implemented to ensure more inheritance of ethnic characteristics; b) school-based subjects are to be promoted with ethnic characteristics with regards to social integration; and c) policies shall facilitate stable family environments and parents shall allocate more time being with their children.

Biography: Dr. Maoqing Yang is Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty of Education at the Guangxi Normal University, China. His research interests lie in comparative education, rural teacher education and migrant children education. His recent publications include Integrating into Society: A Study of Migrant Children of Chinese Ethnic Minorities in Chinese by The Commercial Press (2019).