Dr Yuwei Xu is a Convenor of the BERA Early Career Researcher Network.

He gained his PhD in gender and early childhood studies in 2018 from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Yuwei is a researcher in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and has particular research interests in gender and men’s participation in ECEC. His PhD project investigates the gender dynamics of teacher-child interactions in ECEC settings in Edinburgh, Hong Kong, and Tianjin, China, using multiple qualitative methods such as observations in 17 classrooms cross-culturally, interviews with both male and female teachers, and pictorial conversations with children aged 3-6 years old.

Yuwei is currently doing three research projects, including:

• The Life Trajectories of Women PhD Students in STEM: A Comparative Study of China, Serbia, and the UK (2018-2020), principal investigator, funded by University of Portsmouth Theme Research & Innovation Fund
• Child-centred Diversity in Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in China (2018-2020), principal investigator, funded by Smart Vision International Kindergarten, Weifang, China
• An International Research Study on Men’s Career Trajectories in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) (2017-2019), co-investigator