Rachel Hu

Transnational Entrepreneurs: Qualitative Case Studies of Chinese Female Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Birmingham, UK

 

Rachel Hu Profile PictureDespite Transnational Enterprises (TE), emerged and rapidly evolved since about two decades ago as nuanced business formats, how migrant owners of TEs, especially that of Small Transnational Enterprises (STE), exploit multiscale mechanisms and resources from both home and host countries pertains mysteries with which current migrant entrepreneurship theories unable to engage. Further, regardless the steadily growing proportion migrant entrepreneurs occupy globally and the significant socioeconomic contribution through their entrepreneurial endeavours, timely studies are lacking to recognise and address the research gap in exploring the gender perspective in migrant entrepreneurship studies.

To fill in the research void, this project focuses on the STEs run by Chinese migrants in Birmingham, the UK. Although the STEs run by Chinese overseas are exploited by migrant entrepreneurship scholars elsewhere in the world, qualitative & empirical studies of such enterprises in the UK are lacking.  Seeking to document the existence and to explore characteristics of the Chinese STEs in the UK, this research studies a group of female Chinese transnational entrepreneurs (FCTE) based in Birmingham. Guided by the qualitative case study methodology, it deploys a combination of multiple research methods, including the micro-ethnographic case study, in-depth interviews and documentations to enable a ‘holistic approach’ within a shortened period and a particular space as the robust research methods to understand the transnational practices. Through interpreting the rich descriptions of the cultural norms and meaning making processes of the purposefully selected FCTEs, insights and substantive theories are generated to illuminate the dynamics of the transnational endeavours the FCTEs deploy. Also, the impact of gender, ethnicity and religion are examined through the lens of intersectionality to illuminate the comprehensive process during which their multiple social identities are constructed.

Supervisors

Dr Laurence Lessard-Phillips; Dr Eleni Mariou; Prof Kiran Trehan 

Biography

Between 2014 and 2018, Rachel had been working as Research Fellow at the School of Education for Translation and Translanguage (TLANG) - a sociolinguistic project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, engaging in various research activities and academic conducts. Prior to working at the School of Education, she had been working for 5 years at different roles at the University. With a background in TESOL and applied linguistics studies, she is interested in studying the Chinese diaspora living in Britain, and how contemporary translation methodologies are implemented and practised in the everyday communication.

In October 2018, Rachel started her PhD project which is fully sponsored by the Doctoral Programmes Board of Studies, School of Social Policy. In the past two years, Rachel has been actively engaged in multiple doctoral training modules and programmes organised by the University and external organisations, attending various academic events and conferences, presenting her project, and enhancing her academic performance and research profile. In 2019, the poster she produced and entered for the poster competition at the international ISBE conference had been awarded the Best ISBE 2019 Poster among PhD students from across the country. Currently, Rachel is in her 3rd year of PhD study, engaging with the data collection and analysis for her project.

Qualifications

  • BA (China)
  • MA/Applied Linguistics (China)
  • Teaching Certificate for Higher Education (China)
  • MA/TESOL (UK)
  • Associate Fellow AFHEA (Advance HE, UK) 

Research Interests

  • Female Leadership
  • Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship Research and Education
  • Social Linguistics
  • TESOL 

Teaching Responsibilities

  • Senior Teaching Fellow (sessional) in Teaching English for Academic Purposes,
  • Birmingham International Academy, University of Birmingham
  • PGR Seminar Tutor – Business School, University of Birmingham 

Professional Memberships

  • Student Membership – Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE)
  • Associate Fellow AFHEA - Advance HE, UK

Conference Papers

  • 2019 ISBE Conference: Critical Entrepreneurship: Unveiling Social inequalities through the study of power, emotions and social relations in minority groups Entrepreneurship in Minority Groups. Authors: Kiran Trehan, Rachel Hu, Alex Kevil, Francis Greene  

Publications

  • Blackledge, A., Creese, A., and Hu, R. (2016) ‘The structure of everyday narrative in a city market: An ethnopoetics approach’, Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2016: 1–23.
  • Tagg, C., A. Lyons, R. Hu and F. Rock. (2017) ‘The ethics of digital ethnography in a team project’, Applied Linguistics Review, DOI:  10.1515/applirev-2016-1040. 
  • Creese, A., Blackledge, B., & Hu, R. (2017). ‘Translanguaging and translation: the construction of social difference across city spaces’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2017.1323445.
  • Blackledge, A., Creese, A., and Hu, R. (2017) ‘Everyday Encounters in the Market Place: Translanguaging in the Super-Diverse City’, in De Fina, A. et al (Ed.) Diversity and Super-Diversity: Sociocultural Linguistic Perspectives. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
  • Lyons, A., Tagg, C., and Hu, R. (2019) ‘Chronotopic (non)modernity in translocal mobile messaging among Chinese migrants in the UK’, Internet Pragmatics, issn 2542-3851/e‑issn 2542-386. https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00043.lyo Published online: 17 December 2019 © John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Contact Details

 Email: rxh607@student.bham.ac.uk

Twitter: @hu_rach