社会研究中心系列讲座第59期（线上）

【主题】The Gates of Nerddom: How Elite Chinese Students Prepare for Global Competition（中国精英学生如何应对全球竞争）

【主讲人】Yi-Lin Chiang（台湾政治大学社会学助理教授）

【时间】2020年11月25日10:00—11:30

【地点】zoom线上

【工作语言】英文

【主办单位】北京大学社会研究中心北京大学社会科学学部

With the rise of China as a superpower, questions such as whether China will dominate global society emerge. However, to understand China’s power in shaping future society, one must first examine how the elites from China successfully compete in the global arena. This study examines the process through which a new generation of elites from China are groomed. Drawing on ethnography with 28 elite Beijing teenagers from 2012 to 2019 and interviews with their teachers and parents, I find that the elite Chinese youth learn important skills in high school. Specifically, they learn the rules that govern status systems, navigate status hierarchies according to their positions, and make contingency plans. Because these youth have parallel behaviors in high school, during college, and at work across countries, the skills they learned in adolescence carry long-term consequences. Implications of the findings on global inequality are discussed.