One line of my research focuses on how race and ethnicity shape immigrant integration in Canada across romantic, educational, and work domains. Understanding the intersection of race/ethnicity and immigration is crucial for social equity and inclusion in Canada, where over 25% of the population is visible minorities and 70% of them are immigrants. As a racial minority immigrant working in a second language, I unpack the everyday complexities of integration through my research. Below are some select publications:
Immigrants’ Romantic Lives in the Digital Era
-
Cai, Manlin, Yue Qian, and Yang Hu. 2025. “The Efficiency Paradox: A Temporal Lens into Online Dating among Chinese Immigrants in Canada.” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 42(8): 2167-2187.
-
Cai, Manlin and Yue Qian. 2023. “Digital Ethnic Enclaves: Mate Preferences and Platform Choices Among Chinese Immigrant Online Daters in Vancouver.” Canadian Review of Sociology 60(1): 130-153.
Immigrant Trajectories from Education to Work and Permanent Residency
- Lui, Lake, Manlin Cai, and Yue Qian. 2024. “Comfortably ‘Western’: How Chinese International Students Imagine Canada.” Canadian Ethnic Studies 56(2): 157-176.
Another line of my research foregrounds gender inequalities at the work-family interface in both Canada and China. I introduce my dissertation work and some select publications below.
Dissertation: Power and Status in Public and Private Spheres: Gender, Workplace Authority, and Family Dynamics in China”
My dissertation centres on workplace authority, the legitimate power to supervise and influence others at work, and examines how it intersects with gender and family dynamics among different-sex couples in China. I draw on two large-scale nationally representative datasets, the China Family Panel Studies and the Chinese General Social Survey, to investigate gender differences in access to workplace authority and its consequences for housework division and subjective well-being. I find that following parenthood, women face notable disadvantages in attaining workplace authority, while men remain unaffected or advantaged. However, when women obtain workplace authority, gender inequality decreases in housework division as their husbands increase participation and in turn reduce women’s share of housework. With gender egalitarian ideology, the spouse’s authority attainment protects or supports one’s subjective well-being regardless of genders. These findings highlight workplace authority as a key mechanism that connects work and family domains to reshape gender inequality. My dissertation has won awards from the Canadian Population Society and the Canadian Sociological Association.
The Gendered Division of Paid and Unpaid Labour: Patterns and Implications
-
Fuller, Sylvia, Manlin Cai, Andrea Doucet, and Siqi Qin. Forthcoming. “Gender Divisions of Domestic Labour During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: Did Increases in Father Involvement Persist through Later Stages?” Canadian Review of Sociology.
-
Fuller, Sylvia, Manlin Cai, and Donna Lero. 2025. “The Work/Care Interface and Parents’ Mid-Pandemic Mental Health: Inequalities at the Intersection of Gender and High-Health-Risk Household Status.” Society and Mental Health 15(1): 75-93.
-
Qin, Siqi, Manlin Cai, Sylvia Fuller, and Yue Qian. 2022. “Gender, Parenthood and Employment During COVID-19: An Immigrant-Native Born Comparison in Canada.” Canadian Ethnic Studies 54(3): 63-108.
In addition to journal articles, I led a policy brief in partnership with the Vanier Institute of the Family on Canada’s care/work policies, which was also featured in the media by The Tyee.
- Cai, Manlin, Sylvia Fuller, and Donna Lero. 2025. “Care/Work Policies for Managing Routine and Unpredictable Caregiving.” The Vanier Institute of the Family.