NCID-1598
Wei Li
Professor of Asian American Studies & Geography
Arizona State University
Education/Degree:
1 Geography (University of Southern California)
About
Wei Li received her geography BS and MS degrees in Beijing, China; and her PhD in geography at the University of Southern California. She is a professor in Asian Pacific American Studies at the School of Social Transformation and School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning in the Arizona State University, USA.Her foci of research are highly-skilled migration, integration and transnational connections, focusing on the Pacific Rim. She is the author or [co-]editor of six scholarly books and two journal theme issues, and has 138 other academic or educational publications. Funding sources of her work include US National Science Foundation (four grants) and Canadian government (three grants).She also served at the inaugural class of the National Asia Research Associates with the National Bureau of Asian Research and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Canada (2006-2007) and India (2016-2017), and a recipient of Rockfellor Foundations Bellagio Writing Fellowship (2014). She was a member (2003-2012), Vice Chair (2004-2010), and Chair (2010-2012) of the U.S. Census Bureau?s Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees (REAC) on the Asian Population; a member of the International Steering Committee for the International Metropolis Project since 2008; and the North American Director for the International Society of Studying Chinese Overseas (2010-2019).
Current Work
Current NSF-funded project: Intellectual Migration: The Changing U.S.-China DynamicsThis project seeks to better comprehend the migration intention, behavior, and impacts of highly educated migrants at their various migratory phases. Using an “intellectual migration” framework and empirically connecting China and the United States and how it aims to understand the WHO, WHY and WHERE of intellectual migration and examine HOW country-specific policies may affect intellectual migration. This project will contribute to the theories on mobility and transnationalism, and adds an important geographical dimension to the internal and international migrations of the highly educated.This 3-year project is timely and significant as China has been the largest source of international students and the second largest source of foreign-born professionals in the US in recent decades. A better understanding of the dynamics of highly-educated migration shall inform policies that aim to facilitate mutually beneficial intellectual exchange/migration. The findings will help US national, local and institutional leaders to better understand and train international students, promote intercultural exchange, and retain/build a diverse US-trained workforce of different backgrounds and in different fields. International collaboration and broader participation of intellectual migrants in the US workforce can enhance local, regional and national economic development.The project will also contribute to comprehend the achievements and difficulties faced by seasoned and emerging talents in both countries to advance transnational education, research and collaboration. It will provide policy insights into bilateral benefits to both sending and receiving areas/countries.
Research Area Keyword(s)
education, global south, human geography, immigration, Pacific Rim