Dr Cora Xu
| Biography | Cora is a sociologist interested in issues related to education mobilities and social inequalities. Her research examines how the intersection of class, gender, ethnicity, rural-urban divides, time, and geopolitics can shape social agents’ educational and life trajectories. Cora draws heavily on social theories to inform her empirical research, including Bourdieu’s theory of practice, sociology of time and postcolonial theories. Cora’s geographical focuses include China (mainland China, Hong Kong) and the UK. Cora's research on Chinese international students in the UK has been featured in BBC Radio 4's documentary 'Chinese on Campus', on BBC News, on Jiemian News and Ms-Muses (缪斯夫人). Listen to this interview with The Migration Podcast about Cora's research details. Cora is an Executive Editor of the British Journal of Sociology of Education and serves on the editorial boards of journals including Critical Studies in Education and Cambridge Journal of Education. She is a top peer reviewer for more than 30 international journals. Cora’s research has been funded by the British Sociological Association, The Sociological Review Foundation, the ESRC Methods North West, The National Social Science Fund of China, Monash University Malaysia, and the Cambridge International Trust. Cora is founder and director of Network for Research into Chinese Education Mobilities (NRCEM). The NRCEM is a cross-disciplinary network that attracts more than 500 members from across Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. This network has become an important outlet for global scholars to disseminate cutting-edge research on all aspects of Chinese education mobilities. Visit the Network's Youtube channel and listen to the Podcast series ‘Meet the Author‘ and ‘Lived Experiences‘ that Cora has curated. Cora received her PhD in Sociology of Education from the University of Cambridge in 2016, as a Cambridge Trust scholar. She obtained her MA from King’s College London as a British Chevening scholar and her Bachelor’s from the Education University of Hong Kong as an Outstanding Mainland scholar. A qualified teacher, she taught English as a second language for five years in two Hong Kong secondary schools. A Fellow of the Advance HE (FHEA), at Durham, Cora convenes modules on the BA Education Studies and MA programmes; Cora also supervises Master's and doctoral dissertations. Before joining Durham University, Cora worked at Keele University as Lecturer in Education (Assistant Professor) between 2016 and 2020. Cora is enthusiastic about career education of postgraduate (especially doctoral) researchers. Since January 2021, Cora has established her YouTube (Dr Xu Gazing at Academia) and Bilibili (许博士看学术) channels to share advice on academic writing, publication and job searches. Cora is on Research Leave in 2024-2025 academic year. |
|---|---|
| Research Interests | Sociology of time International student mobility (ISM) Academic mobility Bourdieu China studies Ethnic minority experience Rural-urban inequalities Study-to-work transition |
| ResearcherID | W-4729-2019 |