A Strength-Based Narrative Inquiry into the Educational Migration and Intersectional Identities of a Chinese Motherscholar

• In Event: Mothering as Methods: Centering Care, Storying Experience, and Re-envisioning Knowledge in Education

Abstract

Objectives:
Childcare is often framed as a barrier to graduate student mothers’ success (Kulp, 2020), while the strengths arising from such constraints remain overlooked. Meanwhile, culturally and linguistically diverse families face limited advocacy access for children with developmental disabilities (Rossetti & Burke, 2018). This study offers a counter-narrative of a Chinese motherscholar (Matias, 2011) of a child with autism, exploring how intersectional identities can transform perceived vulnerabilities into sources of agency and empowerment.

Theoretical framework:
This study draws on the concept of motherhood capital (Lo, 2016) which refers to the care for and informal knowledge of their children that mothers provide during interactions with institutional gatekeepers, and the concept of investment which refers to the commitment to identities, practices, and aspirations that influence and transform language learners’ learning journeys as they continuously navigate different power structures and social dynamics (Darvin & Norton, 2018).

Methods:
Drawing on a narrative inquiry research design, this study examines the lived experiences of one transnational Chinese single mother, Sophia (pseudonym), in China and the UK over the past seven years, with a focus on intersections of educational migration, disability, and motherhood.

Data sources:
Data sources include two recorded narrative interviews via Zoom. The first interview was conducted in October 2024, and the second one in December 2024. Each interview lasted around 2 hours, and therefore 4 hours in total. In addition, 24 written narratives on Sophia’s academic life in the UK posted by her on a Chinese social media platform, Rednote, were also collected, generating a total of 22457 words.

Results:
Three thematic subsections emerged from Sophia’s oral and written narratives:
“I can’t just be a mother of an autistic child”: Transformation through precariousness
Systemic barriers to seeking language therapy and special education resources in China prompted Sophia to pursue graduate studies in the UK, seeking better opportunities for her son and herself.
“He is the source of motivation, not a source of stress”: Mutual empowerment of intersectional identities
Her son’s biological limitations inspired her to strive for the best resources for him, while also motivating her to excel in her doctoral work. Mothering experience strengthened her resilience within and beyond academia.
“Not a dead end but a wider road”: Reconceptualizing language and communication
The inclusive environment in the UK enabled her son’s social participation and eased her emotional labor of raising a child with special needs. These experiences reshaped her understanding of communication as multimodal, where spoken language is perceived as one of the multiple ways of meaning-making.

Scholarly significance:
This study contributes to growing scholarship that recognizes mothering, particularly in marginalized contexts, not as a liability, but as a generative site of identity negotiation, emotional labor, and epistemic strength. In doing so, the study invites us to revisit the ableism in academia and advances intersectional understandings of empowerment and vulnerability, expands the discourse on academic labor and caregiving, and calls for institutional practices that value diverse ways of knowing, doing, and being within academia.

Author

• Ying Xiong, Pennsylvania State University