This pilot study proposes to examine the experiences of anti-Chinese/Asian racism and racialization during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of the Chinese in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) using a sociological framework of analysis. We will be partnering with community agencies to help achieve our objectives for this study. The preliminary findings from this proposed study will deepen the understanding of racism and racialization against Chinese/Asians in Canada, and will help to mitigate its effects on the social, economic, and cultural well-being of these communities.

Month: Nov   Year: 2023

2020-27

SSHRC Partnership Grant # 895-2020 1022 ($2.5 mill.)

Month: May   Year: 2020

Month: Apr   Year: 2027

2020-23
$ 99,980

Principal Investigator, SSHRC Insight Grant # 435-2020-1356

Month: May   Year: 2020

SSHRC partnership grant $2.5 million. PI: Valerie Preston

The proposed study is a pilot project which expands on one of the applicant’s ongoing research on Eldercare Amongst Recent Chinese Immigrant Families in Toronto, supported by a SSHRC Small Grant (2016-2018) and a Minor Research Grant (2017-18). The proposed study during the applicant’s sabbatical leave aims to explore how carework is carried out by adult Chinese women in Hong Kong for their aging parents who reside either in Hong Kong or transnationally in Canada. Carework can be expressed in both tangible and intangible ways. Tangible carework includes the material forms of care such as economic support and the physical labour involved in the care of a family member; while intangible forms of carework includes emotional labour, such as expressing feelings of love and providing emotional support.

Month: Nov   Year: 2018

2019-22 Co-Investigator with Nancy Mandell, Amber Gazso, and Lawrence Lam. ($39,201). Sub-grant from SSHRC Research Grant (BMRI) Building Migrant Resilience in Cities/Immigration et résilience enmilieu urbain (PI: Valerie Preston)

Older adults are the fastest-growing age group in Canada. In 2011, an estimated 5 million
Canadians were 65 or older, and by 2050, about one in four Canadians is expected to be 65 or over. Elder abuse is already a growing problem with significant societal implications and, given these demographics, is critical to address. Scholars are increasingly focusing on elder abuse, but little is known about the risk factors -- which include complex social variables -- for elder abuse within immigrant communities or what interventions might best prevent elder abuse in these communities.

Purpose: The purpose of this multidisciplinary study is: first, to develop a comprehensive classification of risk factors for elder abuse in immigrant communities: because immigrants represent an increasingly large proportion of older adults in Canada, it is critical to clarify these complex variables and how they combine to increase older immigrants' risk of elder abuse; and second, to identify the most appropriate and culturally relevant strategies to address the risk factors in immigrant communities in Canada. The study builds on the literature and our own work in this area, and addresses a knowledge, policy, and practice gap identified by various stakeholders across Canada.

Theoretical approaches: Theoretically, our study is guided by the intersectionality perspective and an ecological framework, allowing us to critically examine the complexity surrounding multiple dimensions of social identity (e.g., gender, race, class, culture, immigration status) and how these interrelate at the micro (individual and family), meso (community), and macro (societal) levels.

Consistent with this theoretical framework, we will use a collaborative, community-based,
mixed-methods approach to enable stakeholders to actively determine where research should be
conducted, which factors are relevant to abuse, and strategies consistent with cultural beliefs, values, and preferences of the immigrant communities.

Research plan: We will conduct structured group interviews with older women and men who have experienced abuse, family members, and formal and informal leaders from immigrant communities, and social and settlement service providers in the Greater Toronto Area. We will include two established and two recent communities from both the East Asian and South Asian immigrant communities: Chinese, Korean, Punjabi, and Tamil. Our team has expertise conducting research on elder abuse in immigrant communities in Canada, has well-established working relationships with these communities, and has conducted research of this scale on related topics. Quantitative and qualitative data collected via structured group interviews will be analyzed at the level of particular group interview, subgroups, and communities, and will be integrated across communities to identify common and unique risk factors and intervention strategies. We will pay particular attention to various social dimensions including gender,
age, culture, length of stay in Canada, fluency in English, employment and income, and extended familyco-residence.

Potential impact: The proposed approach is comprehensive in that it will incorporate local knowledge and expert contributions from immigrant women and men, family members, community members, and service providers and policymakers at each phase of the study. As a result, the findings will be relevant so as to contribute to the well being and social needs of older men and women in immigrant communities. The findings will contribute empirically and theoretically, as well as to policy debate and practice change, which will have local, national, and international significance.

Month: Aug   Year: 2016

Month: Mar   Year: 2024

sshrc small grant

Month: Oct   Year: 2016

Month: Sep   Year: 2015

Man, Guida C. (2009-15) Research Project: Role: Principal Investigator Grant Awarded by: SSHRC Standard Research Grant Grant Amount: $100,488

Month: Apr   Year: 2009

Month: Mar   Year: 2015

Income equality has declined for newcomers and there is every reason to believe that intergenerational mobility may have also stalled. Evidence suggests that recent migrants are experiencing lower rates of employment and living on the margin of skilled labour for a longer period of time after their arrival than cohorts who landed between 1961 and 1991 (Ruddick, 2003; Green et al, 2016). Racialized migrants are particularly susceptible to experiencing employment precarity and low- income (Fuller, 2015; Galabuzi, 2006). Even though newcomers were doing better financially by 2010 compared to the past thirty years, still the rate of low-income for recent migrants was 2.5 times higher than the rate for the Canadian-born (Statistics Canada, 2014). Racialized newcomers contend with income instability and establishingsocial supports in finding employment and negotiating family relations. Ethno-racial, diverse, and multi-generational households are the fastest growing form in urban Canada (Statistics Canada, 2017) suggesting that income in/security may be intergeneratinally shared in households. Newcomer income insecurity strains may be exacerbated by generational differences, such as in perceptions of how children should integrate into their new country and retain cultural knowledge and tradition (Hassan et al., 2008). South Asian and Chinese women’s greater responsibility for caregiving may reflect cultural discourses of loyalty and filial piety and the lack of affordable child care (Spitzer et al., 2003). There is limited research that addresses what enhances or hinders newcomers’ economic resilience and how, these factors affect their settlement in Canadian society. Clearly there remains a complex story to be told about recent immigrants and their continuing economic vulnerability in Canada. We explore how social, economic and cultural capital and strategies employed by newcomer South Asian and Chinese households impact their survival and intergenerational family relationships. Secondary questions include: How is income inequality differently experienced in the family households of recent Chinese versus South Asian migrants? What new income strategies do newcomers adopt? How do these strategies affect opportunities for income mobility for younger generations? How might intergenerational family relationships be preserved or strained by the income strategies of newcomers?