Sociology is the study of society, and society is composed of diverse groups of people. Among these groups, my research interest lies in the younger generations, particularly children and youth.
As most children today attend school, my primary research focus is on education.
Education is a part but not the whole of a child’s life. Children’s health, particularly their mental health, is also important. I believe that education and mental health are interconnected aspects of a child’s life, both contributing significantly to their overall development. In this regard, I am also interested in child development.
As a sociologist, I study education and child development from the perspective of social inequality. This means considering how children from different families have unequal resources and opportunities that ultimately shape their education and development. For this reason, social inequality is also a key in my research.
In sum, my research aims to understand children’s education and development from a perspective of social inequality. I explore how children and youth from different family backgrounds experience schooling differently and how these unequal experiences translate into distinct life outcomes, from childhood to adulthood.
- Sociology of Education
- Child Development
- Social Stratification and Inequality
- Youth Mental Health
- Contemporary China
| Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles |
| Shen, Wensong. Accepted. “Institutionalized Negative Selection and Structural Teacher Favoritism: Demystifying the Effects of Cultural Capital on Educational Achievement in China.” European Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcag037 |
| Shen, Wensong. 2025. “Catching up yet Still Falling behind: Sources, Heterogeneity, and Implications of the Modest Female Educational Disadvantage in Rural China.” Rural Sociology 90(3):e70011. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.70011 |
| Shen, Wensong, Emily Hannum, and Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng. 2025. “Adaptive Educational Expectations: How Do Parental Educational Expectations Respond to Child Academic Performance in Various Family Contexts?” Social Science Research 125:103097. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2024.103097 |
| Shen, Wensong, and Ruolin Su. 2024. “Bullying Victimization and Its Life-course Shadows: Evidence from China.” Chinese Sociological Review 56(5): 586-615. https://doi.org/10.1080/21620555.2023.2292538 |
| Shen, Wensong, and Emily Hannum. 2023. “Context-Relevant Risk and Protective Factors for Children in Rural Communities: Long-term Implications for Adulthood Educational and Mental Health Outcomes.” Journal of Community Psychology 51(2):724-744. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22909 |
| Shen, Wensong. 2022. “A Tale of Two Genders: Demystifying Girls’ Concurrence of Higher Educational Achievement and Higher Depression Levels.” Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 81:100725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2022.100725 |
| Shen, Wensong, Li-Chung Hu, and Emily Hannum. 2021. “Effect Pathways of Informal Family Separation on Children’s Outcomes: Paternal Labor Migration and Long-Term Educational Attainment of Left-behind Children in Rural China.” Social Science Research 97:102576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102576 |
| Shen, Wensong. 2020. “A Tangled Web: The Reciprocal Relationship between Depression and Educational Outcomes in China.” Social Science Research 85:102353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.102353 |
| Book Chapters |
| Shen, Wensong, and Emily Hannum. 2024. “Education and Social Inequality in China.” Pp. 100–126 in The Sage Handbook of Sociology of Education, edited by M. Berends, B. Schneider, and S. Lamb. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529783506.n7 |
| Guest-Edited Journal Issues |
| Shen, Wensong. 2023. “Family and Education across Social Contexts in China.” Chinese Education & Society 56(2):99–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/10611932.2023.2251832 |
- SOCI 4010 Graduation Thesis I
- SOCI 4020 Graduation Thesis II
- SOCI 4204 Sociology of Education
- SOCI 5503 Methods of Social Inquiry
- SOCI 5631 Contemporary Chinese Society
- UGEA 2190 Chinese Society
Department
- Director, M.A. Programme
- Associate Director & Leader of the Migration Cluster, Executive Board of Centre for Population Research
- Elected Member, Department Executive Committee
- Member, Executive Committee, The Chinese University of Hong Kong-Xi’an Jiaotong University Joint Research Centre on Migration
- Member, Graduate Studies Committee
- Editorial Board Member, British Journal of Sociology of Education
- Editorial Board Member, Chinese Education Society
- Editorial Board Member, Chinese Sociological Review
- Early-career Reviewer Board Member, Social Science Research
- External Reviewer for the courses for the School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
- Council Member, Hong Kong Sociological Association
- Reviewer, The Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research
last updated on 13 October 2026