Margaret was born and raised in New York City to immigrant Chinese parents who worked in the garment and restaurant industries. She received her BA from Harvard University and her PhD from Columbia University. She is best known for her work on the Chinese American community in New York City; in particular, her work on New York City’s Chinatown after the 9/11 attacks drew attention to the limitations of ethnic enclaves as primary resources for immigrant populations. Chin discovered that while ethnic enclaves may facilitate jobs and social support for those with strong networks to the community, those same connections become useless when the ethnic economy itself is seriously challenged or collapses as was the case for Chinatown in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.[4] Her work extended the need to consider individuals’ connections to resources outside of ethnic communities.

In addition to her work on communities such as Chinatown, Chin is also known as a labor scholar with a focus on gender. She documented the New York City garment industry when it was comprised of Chinese, Korean, Dominican, Ecuadorian and Mexican workers. Her book, Sewing Women: Immigrants and the New York City Garment Industry offers one of the most extensive and detailed research on unionized and non-unionized workers in the garment industry from the 1990s through 2001.[5]

She is currently working on two projects, one a book manuscript on Asian American Professionals and the Bamboo Ceiling, and second with Syed Ali (LIU sociologist) a book examining Stuyvesant High School graduates.