Event: Is Higher Education Still the Ladder to Success?

Sixth Tone Agora is a series of public events, including lectures and expert roundtables, organized by Sixth Tone. It is an opportunity to meet and engage with some of contemporary China’s most interesting and innovative thinkers, academics, and writers.

Thanks to a partnership with Duoyun Books, Sixth Tone Agora is held at Duoyun’s flagship store in the Shanghai Tower. Situated on the 52nd floor of the world’s second highest building, Duoyun offers magnificent views of Shanghai and an inspiring space for cultural and intellectual exchanges.

The next Agora event will take place from 14:00 p.m. to 16:00 p.m., November 19, 2022. Li Angran, an assistant professor of sociology at NYU Shanghai, will give a talk on the transformation of China’s higher education and its implication for social mobility.

The lecture is in English. Slots must be reserved in advance. Entry fee: 40 yuan. The fee will be refunded as a coupon for the store’s café.

Abstract:

Since the late 1970s, China’s market reforms have dramatically boosted economic growth, lifted living standards, and greatly expanded access to higher education. Higher education institutions are serving an increasingly large and diverse student population, but persistent inequality and credential inflation has many questioning the value of a college degree. Professor Li's talk will present empirical evidence to understand the past and present of China’s higher education system and the market-oriented higher education reforms’ implications for social mobility. Has China's higher education push facilitated equal access to opportunities, or merely reproduced existing inequalities?

SPEAKER: Li Angran

Li Angran is an assistant professor of sociology at NYU Shanghai. His research examines mechanisms through which social, spatial, and temporal contexts, independently or jointly, lead to the inequality of parental practices and educational outcomes. Li holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Connecticut.

* Audiences are required to scan the place code, present 72-hour negative nucleic acid certificate, screenshot of successful event registration, and take body temperature upon admission.

* Audiences are requested to wear a mask throughout the participation period.

Scan the QR code to make a reservation and find out more about the event.