{"id":58,"date":"2023-09-18T20:15:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T19:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/?page_id=58"},"modified":"2026-05-06T18:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:00:35","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/","title":{"rendered":"About me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am a sociologist and anthropologist working on issues related to medical sociology (health inequalities), migration, and science and technology studies. My research trajectory bridges the social and life sciences. I hold a PhD in Sociology<\/a> (Chen 2019) from Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) and studied migration<\/a> (Chen 2022), ethnicity and nationalism<\/a> (Chen 2025a), formations of boundaries and categories with a focus on Northeast China, South Korea and North Korea. While working and living with migrants, I developed a keen interest in tackling healthcare inequalities and conducted postdoctoral research in medical sociology<\/a> and medical education<\/a> (Chen et al. 2022; Chen 2025b) at the Imperial College London-NTU joint medical school and Nanyang Centre for Public Administration at NTU. My current research project at Erasmus University Rotterdam focuses on the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research infrastructures (Chen and de Jong 2026<\/a>) that facilitate academic work to tackle urgent societal challenges in the fields of inequality, diversity and inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I took this photo in Pyongyang, North Korea during my PhD multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in June 2017. The state’s presence is constant here, from the towering propaganda billboard to the loyalty pins on everyone\u2019s lapels.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overarching aims of my research are twofold: (1) to help reduce social inequalities by investigating how individuals become members of a community and how these processes intersect with identity politics to create social stratification; and (2) to identify and dismantle structural barriers, ultimately inspiring social and policy changes that foster a more inclusive society where disadvantaged populations have equal opportunities to aspire, achieve, and feel at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I take a broad approach to defining and studying social inequality and diversity. I explore these themes through research on ethnic minorities and migrants, as well as within the healthcare sector with a focus on health equity. My work can be summarized into three overlapping research streams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stream #1: sociology and anthropology of migration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stream #2: medical anthropology, sociology of health and illness, medical education<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stream #3: science, technology and society<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

More about me<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was born in the late 1980s and grew up in Guangzhou, a large multi-ethnic city in southern China. Growing up in a popular migrant destination, I experienced the beauty and sparks of diversity from an early age: a rich culinary culture, diverse languages, and varied ways of thinking. That\u2019s why I studied anthropology and sociology. Anthropology taught me to appreciate the wisdom generated in different cultures, and sociology drew my attention to social stratification. Spending extensive time with migrants and rural residents also made me see their everyday struggles, and a prominent one lies in the access to and quality of healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spend my spare time sewing, rock-climbing, playing the Guqin<\/em> (a Chinese string instrument) and cooking. Currently, my partner and I are writing a reciepe book – Chinese Cooking in Europe: a guide to locally sourced Chinese classics<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Reference:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen, S<\/strong>. and de Jong, S.. 2026. The sand in the gears of large-scale interdisciplinary research: uncovering bottom-up rearrangements of university infrastructure<\/a>. Science as Culture<\/em>, online first: 1\u201322. doi.org\/10.1080\/09505431.2026.2637131<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen, S.<\/strong>. 2025a \u2013 Performative State Presence Shapes Citizenship in the China-North Korea Borderland<\/a> \u2013 ed. Zhonghua Guo and Tianlong You, special issue, Citizenship Studies<\/em>. doi.org\/10.1080\/13621025.2025.2558415<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen, S.<\/strong>. 2025b \u2013 Alienation During Crisis: Experiences of COVID-19 Vaccine Sceptics in Singapore \u2013 ed. Annika Lems, Dana\u00e9 Leitenberg, Biao Xiang (Max Plank Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle), special issue, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies<\/em>. doi.org\/10.1080\/14649373.2025.2549649<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen S<\/strong>., 2022. Mobility\u2013ethnicity nexus in the China\u2013North Korea borderland of Yanbian: Migration infrastructure and multi-directional flows. China Information<\/em>, 36<\/em>(3), pp.344-362. doi.org\/10.1177\/0920203X221118201<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen S<\/strong>., Smith, H., Bartlam, B., Low-Beer, N., Chow, A., Rosby, L.V., Shelat, V.G. and Cleland, J., 2022. Role of social comparison in preparedness for practice as a junior doctor in Singapore: a longitudinal qualitative study. BMJ open<\/em>, 12<\/em>(9), p.e061569. Open access: dx.doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2022-061569<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen, S<\/strong>., 2019. Nation in action: Making Chinese in the rural borderland between China and North Korea<\/em> (Doctoral dissertation).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a sociologist and anthropologist working on issues related to medical sociology (health inequalities), migration, and science and technology studies. My research trajectory bridges the social and life sciences. I hold a PhD in Sociology (Chen 2019) from Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) and studied migration (Chen 2022), ethnicity and nationalism (Chen 2025a), formations<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t Read More <\/span> <\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":474,"href":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58\/revisions\/474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiwei-chen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}