Siwen is an Ed.D. candidate in Human Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. A native of Fujian, China, Siwen's interests have grown both veritcally and horizontally at HGSE, from understanding how the children of immigrants and refugees from developing countries negotiate linguistic, cultural and identity development in transnational contexts, to learning about the motivations and challenges to achieving civic engagement among immigrant youth. Currently, Siwen is working on her dissertation that looks at how Chinese international students in US higher education develop critical global citizesnhip.
Prior to Harvard, Siwen earned her M.Ed. degree in Bilingual/ESL/Multicultural Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she also worked as an Assistant Residence Director in the Department of Residential Life. Siwen gained her teaching experience as a Chinese foreign language teacher in Manila, Philippines, while she collaborated with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) on former President Arroyo’s project to equip the Filipino workforce with foreign language competence.
Siwen is also a co-founder and Executive manager at MintyMentors, a career development service that connects Chinese international students to young professionals in different industries. Her hope is to help international Chinese students make successful transitions from academic pursuits to career destinations, through interactive content and personalized access to industry experts, leading to meaningful and purposeful contributions to society.