China’s Two Educational Revolutions,1890–2023: The Best and the Rest

Friday, 01 November 2024 | 14:00 to 15:30 EDT | Room 7-105, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto | 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto

With James Z. Lee, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Discussants:
Ruth Hayhoe, Professor of Higher Education, University of Toronto
Yanqin Wu, Professor of Astronomy, University of Toronto

Chair & Moderator:
Qiang Zha, York Centre for Asian Research & Faculty of Education, York University

This study compares the 5,277 academicians and “experts” elected or selected by the Chinese Academies of Science and Engineering and the Chinese Association of Science and Technology at the apex of the Chinese academe, with 357,833 elite Chinese university students at the base to show that in contrast to well-known findings for elite education in France and recent findings for elite students, faculty and intellectuals in the United States, the distinctive defining feature of the Chinese academe over the last century is the salient proportion of top students and scholars from diverse disadvantaged backgrounds, as the result of two distinct revolutions in the Chinese academe.

James Z. Lee is Yan Ai Professor of Social Science and Chair Professor of Humanities at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The recipient or co-recipient of a dozen best book, article, project awards, he is the author or co-author of over 80 scholarly articles and 8 books in population history, socio-demographic history, socio-economic history, and the history of tertiary and post-tertiary education and related social stratification and social mobility in China and elsewhere.

In-person attendees can register at this link.

Virtual attendees can register here.

This event is co-presented by the York Centre for Asian Research and Comparative, International & Development Education Centre at the OISE.