From the foundation of the People's Republic of China (in 1949) until now, Chinese women's social status has been improved and their identities have been shifted with the changes in the social system. However, in the new century, they are experiencing a hard time in balancing careers and domestic work. Although Chinese women proactively…

This dissertation consists of three chapters. Chapter one explores the causal relationship between adverse health conditions and research-related activities/career outcomes by assessing the dynamic impacts of functional limitations for the U.S. trained doctoral recipient population. Using the restricted Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of…

Assessment literacy is essential for teachers in higher education as it directly influences the quality of assessment practices. This, in turn, impacts students' academic performance, their competitiveness in the job market, and the overall reputation of colleges and universities. Existing studies on assessment literacy in China have largely…

This dissertation presents three separate essays. The first two essays explore the gender wage gap and its dynamics in urban China from 1995 to 2018. The first chapter decomposes the gender wage gap based on the observed wage for workers with a precise measure of the hourly wages. The first chapter examines the observed average gender wage gap in…

This dissertation examines the impact of state educational programs on the economics of education and labor, focusing on the New York State (NYS) STEM Incentive Program and China's tuition-free policy for vocational secondary education (VSE). The first two Chapters analyze the effects of the NYS STEM Incentive Program, an initiative implemented in…

The reform of English programs at Chinese universities had been implemented for decades. The goal of the reform was to adjust the curriculum so the classroom teaching could be more student-centered and market-oriented. Nevertheless, the accomplishments of the reform by Chinese universities are contradictive with some educational policies mandated…

This dissertation studies the effects of China's higher education expansion reform on workers' labor market outcomes. In Chapter 1, I investigate how China's higher education expansion reform affects young workers' labor market outcomes. Using data from the 2005 China Population Survey, I estimate the effects of the reform using a diff-in-diff…

This dissertation study focuses on upper secondary technical and vocational education (TVE) in China. It empirically examines the characteristics of TVE participants and the labor market impacts of participating in upper secondary TVE relative to attending general high schools. Using nationally representative datasets from China, this study has…

This dissertation study focuses on a current and controversial phenomenon in Chinese universities and colleges--student working during academic semesters. The massification of Chinese higher education since the year of 1999 raises the level of competition in the job market of college graduates. More and more undergraduate students participate in…

This dissertation focuses on examining the motivations, experiences, and perspectives of socially elite urban Chinese students who attend emerging internationally focused public high schools in China and who plan to study at U.S. universities. Drawing on critical theory, I integrate critical curriculum studies with educational policy studies to…

Universalism is critical to the development of science because it promotes the objectivity of knowledge. Particularism, on the other hand, evaluates scientists' contributions based on functionally irrelevant characteristics, including personal attributes and academic origins. Previous studies found a persistent significant correlation between…