Yao-Tai Li- Social Networks – Best Researcher Award
Dr. Yao -Tai Li distinguished academic and researcher in the field Social Networks. He has held several academic positions, showcasing his expertise and dedication to the field of sociology and social policy. Since July 2023, he has served as a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales in Sydney. Prior to this role, he worked as a Lecturer of Sociology and Social Policy at the same institution since 2022. His academic journey began as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Hong Kong Baptist University from September 2017 to 2021. Through these roles, he has demonstrated his commitment to teaching, research, and contributing to the academic community in the field of sociology and social policy.
Professional Profiles
Educationsđđđ
He pursued a rigorous academic journey, culminating in a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego in 2017. His dissertation, titled “Making and Unmaking Pan-ethnicity: The Formation and Decline of Overseas Chinese Identity in Australia,” was supervised by a distinguished committee including David FitzGerald and Christena Turner as co-chairs, alongside Jeffrey Haydu, Vanesa Ribas, and Yen Le Espiritu from Ethnic Studies. Prior to his doctoral studies, he earned a Master of Arts in Sociology from the same institution in 2013, focusing on race and ethnicity as well as urban sociology during his field exams. He also holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, obtained in 2008, following his earlier completion of a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the same institution in 2006. Through his educational pursuits, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to understanding social dynamics, ethnicity, and political systems, contributing to his expertise in sociology and political science.
Race and Ethnicity, Identity, Work and Labor, Migration, Contentious Politics, Urban Sociology,Social Media
Book Project
Lennon Walls: Co-authoring Contentious Repertoires throughProtest Walls(to be submitted to Cambridge University Press for external review by 2023)
He has garnered numerous awards and accolades throughout his career, reflecting his exceptional contributions to academia and research. In 2023, he was highly commended by the Early Career Academic Network in the category of Best Traditional Research Output within the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture at UNSW. Notably, in 2021, his project “Hong Kong Lennon Wall Collection” received The Sigma Awards for Data Journalism from the Google News Initiative and the Digital Content award in the Digital Publishing category at the 45th Golden Tripod Awards for Publication, presented by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. He was also recognized at the 25th Human Rights Press Awards for Multimedia, organized by The Foreign Correspondentsâ Club Hong Kong, Amnesty International, and the Hong Kong Journalists Association. Additionally, his presentation at the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS) Annual Conference earned him the Best Presentation Award in 2021. His achievements extend beyond research, as evidenced by the A. Noam Chomsky Rising Star Emerging Scholar Award from the Society of Transnational Academic Researchers (STAR) in 2020 and the Faculty Early Career Teaching Award from Hong Kong Baptist University in the same year. Earlier distinctions include the Dissertation Writing Award from the Department of Sociology at UCSD in 2017 and the Graduate Student Paper Award from the Racial and Ethnic Minorities Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) in 2016. He has also received travel awards and grants, such as the American Sociological Association Student Forum Travel Award in 2016 and the Summer Research Grant Awards from the Department of Sociology at UCSD in 2014. His achievements underscore his dedication to excellence in scholarship and teaching.
Grants and Fellowship
He has secured a range of grants and fellowships, reflecting his diverse research interests and expertise. Notably, in 2023, he received the Asia Study Grant from the National Library of Australia and the School of Social Sciences Research Grant through the Individual Research Strategy Scheme at UNSW. In 2022, he obtained funding from the Arts, Design and Architecture (ADA) Faculty through both the Research Grant Seed Funding Scheme and the Research Grants Scheme (SPF02) at UNSW. His previous research projects have been supported by prestigious funding sources, including the Early Career Scheme from the Research Grants Council in Hong Kong, where he served as the Principal Investigator for a project examining the interaction dynamics between Mainland skilled professionals and locals in Hong Kong from 2020 to 2021. He also led research investigating media portrayal and social perceptions of Mainlanders in Hong Kong since 1997, funded by the Initiation Grant for Faculty Niche Research Areas (FNRA-IG) at HKBU from 2019 to 2021. Additionally, he conducted research on hierarchical hiring practices in Hong Kong’s financial job market, supported by a Start-up Grant (Tier-2) at HKBU from 2019 to 2020. Through these grants and fellowships, he has demonstrated his ability to secure funding for impactful research projects and advance knowledge in his field.
- Constituting co-ethnic exploitation: The economic and cultural meanings of cash-in-hand jobs for ethnic Chinese migrants in Australia
YT LiCritical Sociology 43 (6), 919-932
- âItâs not discriminationâ: Chinese migrant workersâ perceptions of and reactions to racial microaggressions in Australia
YT LiSociological Perspectives 62 (4), 554-571
- When the state becomes part of the exploitation: migrantsâ agency within the institutional constraints in Australia
YT Li, K WhitworthInternational Migration 54 (6), 138-150
- Reclaiming Hong Kong through neighbourhood-making: A study of the 2019 Anti-ELAB movement
YT Li, K WhitworthUrban Studies 59 (7), 1372-1388
- âPlayingâat the ethnic boundary: strategic boundary making/unmaking among ethnic Chinese groups in Australia
YT LiEthnic and racial studies 39 (4), 671-689
- Moral dilemma of striking: a medical workerâs response to job duty, public health protection and the politicization of strikes
YT Li, J NgWork, Employment and Society 36 (5), 967-976
- Donating to the fight for democracy: The connective activism of overseas Hong Kongers and Taiwanese in the 2019 Antiâextradition bill movement
YT Li, KY FungGlobal Networks 22 (2), 292-307
- One person, three identities? Examining re-politicization of ethnic, national, and Australian identities among 1.5-generation Taiwanese immigrants in Australia
YT LiJournal of Sociology 57 (3), 541-558
- Accounting for âthe socialâ in contact tracing applications: The paradox between public health governance and mistrust of government’s data use
YT LiBig Data & Society 8 (2), 20539517211054277
- âhong kong, add oil!â: the lennon walls in the 2019 hong kong movement
YT Li, JCE LiuContexts 20 (1), 68-69
- Auditing ethnic preference in Hong Kongâs financial job market: The mediation of white privilege and Hong Kong localism
YT Li, JCE LiuInternational Sociology 36 (1), 71-90
- How important is English, Mandarin, and Cantonese for getting a job? Exploring employersâ perceptions of linguistic capital in Hong Kong
YT LiChinese Sociological Review 54 (2), 155-177
- Taiwan as ghost island? Ambivalent articulation of marginalized identities in computer-mediated discourses
YT Li, Y SongDiscourse & Society 31 (3), 285-306
- Redefining consumer nationalism: The ambiguities of shopping yellow during the 2019 Hong Kong Anti-ELAB movement
YT Li, K WhitworthJournal of Consumer Culture 23 (3), 517-535
- Maintaining transnational ties and the convertibility of working holiday makersâ experiences in Australia
YT LiCurrent Sociology 68 (3), 316-332
- Asymmetrical understandings of the value of time between Taiwanese Working Holiday Makers and the Australian government: Cultural exchange or serving time?
YT LiThe Sociological Review 70 (3), 547-563
- âI was discriminated against because I was seen as PRCâChineseâ: The negotiation between ethnicity and nationalism among Taiwanese migrants in Australia
YT LiThe British Journal of Sociology 71 (5), 1016-103