Chien-Juh Gu
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5257 USA
- Ph.D., Sociology, Michigan State University
- Medical sociology
- Research methods
- Social psychology
- Sociology of gender
- Gender and immigration
- Gender and mental health
- Self and social identity
Dr. Chien-Juh Gu is Professor of Sociology at Western Michigan University, specializing in gender, social psychology, immigration, and health. She has received numerous awards and grants, including being the first winner of the Gender Scholar Award and a two-time recipient of the Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award at WMU. On students’ nomination, Dr. Gu received a College of Arts and Sciences’ Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching. She also received a College of Arts and Sciences’ Faculty Achievement Award in Research and Creative Activity.
Dr. Gu was a finalist for the internationally renowned Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research. Her work has been featured in the WMU College of Arts and Sciences Magazine. Recently, Gu received the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Award to Austria for the academic year 2024-25.
Gu has published two books and numerous articles. In her first book, Mental Health among Taiwanese Americans: Gender, Immigration, and Transnational Struggles (2006, LFB), she examines how immigration history, gender, and social relations affect the mental health of Taiwanese Americans. Gu presents a novel sociological theory to explore the complex interplay of social structure, identity, and well-being. She also offers a refined concept of agency.
Gu's second book, The Resilient Self: Gender, Immigration, and Taiwanese Americans (2018, Rutgers University Press), is the first to discuss the concept of self in the study of gender and immigration. It is also the first to document everyday racism encountered by highly educated immigrant women. Based on 45 life-history interviews and seven years of ethnographic observations, Gu illuminates the complexity of multifaceted connections among gender, immigration, work, family, culture, race and ethnicity, citizenship, and the self as these aspects manifest in various ways during the adaptation process and in women's lived experiences. The book was featured at the 2018 International Sociological Association RC32 Women, Gender, and Society as a significant contribution to sociology with a focus on women.
Gu’s recent research examines the social adaptation of Burmese Christian refugees in Michigan. She is currently working on her third book, From Religious Minority to Racial Minority: Burmese Christian Diaspora in Michigan.
Dr. Gu is the faculty advisor for the Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociology Honor Society.