Dr YUWEI XU Yuwei.Xu@nottingham.ac.uk
Associate Professor
Abstract
This comparative paper considers the similar challenges encountered in Beijing (China) and Greater London (England) when engaging low-income families in education research. Through semi-structured interviews with 10 parents/caregivers in Beijing and 13 parents in Greater London, we explored perceptions of the barriers to participation, the influence of identity on involvement, and ways to better enable their contribution to education research. We found that key barriers to research participation across both cohorts centred on practical issues of a lack of time and childcare support and a sense of the pointlessness of research. Despite these commonalities, subtle differences emerged in how these barriers were experienced in each context, influenced by local socio-cultural factors. We conclude by reflecting on the forms of support that would encourage and enable socio-economically disadvantaged parents/caregivers in different country contexts to take part in education research. Our findings contribute new, comparative knowledge to best practice approaches, highlighting specific policy interventions that could improve the diversity of research participation.
Citation
Hoskins, K., Wainwright, E., Arabaci, R., Zhai, J., Gao, J., & XU, Y. (in press). Engaging low-income families in education research: examining the challenges in Beijing and London. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education,
Journal Article Type
Article
Acceptance Date
Sep 7, 2024
Deposit Date
Sep 14, 2024
Journal
Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education
Print ISSN
0305-7925
Electronic ISSN
1469-3623
Publisher
Routledge
Peer Reviewed
Peer Reviewed
Keywords
low-income families; parental engagement in education; cross-cultural research; educational inequality; social capital
