DPhil candidate, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies
Kefan is a fourth-year DPhil candidate in Area Studies at the University of Oxford, under the supervision of Professor Rachel Murphy. Her research interests include the sociology of childhood and family, care, and gender inequalities. Before starting her PhD, Kefan obtained her MPhil and BA in Educational Research from the University of Cambridge and Warwick.
Kefan is particularly interested in young caregivers; they are children and young people who undertake caregiving roles and responsibilities for their ill or disabled family members. Her DPhil thesis explores the lives and experiences of this ‘hidden’ group in China, which involves 15 months of fieldwork with 30 young caregiver families in rural and urban areas, funded by the British Association for International and Comparative Education. While contributing to the sociology of China and the global childhood literature, Kefan conceptualises ‘children’s caregiving’ in the Chinese sociocultural context.
In addition to her thesis project, Kefan has been participating in several collaborations and has been published in Sex Education and other leading journals. Meanwhile, she has designed and taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses within and beyond Oxford. These include teaching qualitative research methods and courses related to gender and education.
DPhil topic
An exploratory and participatory multi-case study on young carers in China: exploring the lives and needs of young carers and their families, by taking a southeast city as an example
Many children and young people provide care to parents and/or other family members who have illnesses or disabilities. These young carers are present in every country. Profound studies globally have shown that caring responsibilities hugely impact young carers’ livelihoods and developments. In contrast, young carers in China have yet to be recognised, with scant statistics or academic research on this topic in particular. It means that this group of children currently goes unnoticed by society, and thus little support is being provided to them. Nevertheless, it can be inferred that the population of young carers in China is large, on account of the country’s massive population base, the deep-rooted filial piety culture and a large number of disabled people and left-behind children. Therefore, it is significant to recognise, identify and support this ‘hidden’ vulnerable group in China.
