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Against the Grain: A Mother's Journey Juggling Textbooks and Bedtime Stories
By Ali Shahan Butt
Dayanqi's hometown: Nanchang, China
As a PhD student and a mother of three, Dayanqi Si is balancing research, family, and a passion for preserving languages through libraries.
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As a child, Dayanqi Si’s hometown in China only had two public libraries, neither of which she was ever fortunate enough to visit. Little did she know then that this fact would deeply influence her future academic pursuits.
After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Honours Linguistics from the University of British Columbia, Dayanqi chose to pursue a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) at Western University. This, in turn, inspired her decision to take on a new academic quest in 2023: a PhD in Library and Information Science (LIS). The lack of access to public libraries she experienced as a child played a strong role in her choice of studies.
Although her decision to enrol in library and information science studies came as a surprise to many in her life, Dayanqi knows she is following her passion. “My mother was very surprised, because in her imagination, where she comes from, librarians are basically just elderly people who sit there not doing anything.”
Dayanqi sees things a little differently. She is using her time at Western to uncover all the ways that libraries positively impact their communities, and her doctoral research reflects that.
Dayanqi found a way to connect her linguistics background to her LIS education by researching how public libraries can help second-generation immigrants maintain their ancestral languages. It’s a topic that resonates deeply for her since she herself has three Canadian-born children who she hopes can maintain their mother-tongue growing up in Canada.
“I hope second-generation immigrants can maintain their ancestral languages because English shouldn’t be considered superior to other languages, and the associated culture shouldn’t be considered superior to other cultures,” said Dayanqi. She is motivated by the resilience of Canadian Indigenous populations who continue to preserve their languages despite concerted efforts, through policies like residential schools, to eradicate them.
Fun Fact
Dayanqi's favourite movie is Zootopia because it shows Judy Hopps overcoming the obstacles that women experience in male-dominated fields.
“If our libraries can encourage second-generation immigrants to maintain their ancestral languages, fewer languages would die.”
Dayanqi’s interest in LIS extends beyond her research on preserving languages. One of her favourite MLIS courses was titled Analog Gaming in Libraries. It looked at the concepts of information transfer, special collections, programming and curating in the context of board games in libraries.
“Libraries are no longer only about books,” she says. “We have a lot of things, including games.”
Dayanqi enjoyed the course so much that if the stars had aligned, she believes she may have just opted for a PhD in board games.
When asked about the people who inspire her, Dayanqi is quick to mention her supervisors, family, and peers from FIMS. But she says she is inspired by all women seeking out education, especially those women with children.
Whereas some cultural beliefs might dictate that mothers cannot seek out higher education due to their motherly responsibilities, Dayanqi likes to find a balance between the two.
“Many people around me don’t understand why I’m doing my PhD since I already have three kids. Somehow, they think that women with kids should only be mothers and not doing PhDs.”
Dayanqi is determined to prove her critics wrong and do both successfully.
At this point in her doctoral studies, she’s not currently worrying about her career goals - she is instead embracing her PhD journey. “I think post-secondary education is more for personal growth than it is just career-linked. But I’m just thinking of how much fun I’m having doing this PhD.”
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Profiles in the Meet Our Students section are written by students in the Master of Media in Journalism & Communication program, who are enrolled in MMJC 9604 - Professional Writing.
