The 6th Forum on Children of Migrants was held online by the Institute of Economic and Social Research (IESR) on May 14, 2022. The Forum has been an annual tradition of IESR since 2016 and this year marked its 6th edition. The Forum provides an opportunity for participants to present the latest research findings related to children of migrants with the hope to provide corresponding suggestions and solutions.
The event has invited experts and scholars from institutions including Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Oxford, Peking University, Renmin University of China, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Central China Normal University, Guangzhou University, Jinan University, alongside government officials from the Education Bureau of Mianzhu City and practitioners engaged in the relevant sectors.
Prof. Shuaizhang Feng, Dean of IESR, addressed the opening ceremony, stating that the annual forum is aimed to bring academic and public attention to the issue faced by children of migrants which is relevant to the development of the nation. He hoped that the event would provide a platform for academic and policy exchanges and thus would further contribute to the improvement of the education and the life of children of migrants.
The opening ceremony was followed by the keynote speech delivered by Prof. Yaojiang Shi, Dean of Center for Experimental Economics in Education of Shaanxi Normal University. His research focused on the early development of infants and young children. The second keynote speech, focusing on the social therapy for children of migrants based on their diverse identities, was made by Prof. Lijuan Cui from the School of Psychology and Cognitive Science of East China Normal University.
Prof. Yaojiang Shi, Dean of Center for Experimental Economics in Education of Shaanxi Normal University
Prof. Lijuan Cui from the School of Psychology and Cognitive Science of East China Normal University
The second part of the morning session was the policy forum chaired by Prof. Jialing Han, Distinguished Professor of IESR. 11 participants shared their views on topics such as the schooling challenges faced by the children of migrants and their impact on the educational investment, the vulnerabilities of migrants during the COVID-19 epidemics and the correspondent policies, and the correlation studies between childhood traumatic experiences and academic performance of the children of migrants.
Participants from the Policy Forum (Partial)
In the afternoon session, Prof. Scott Rozelle from Stanford University delivered a keynote speech on “Do the Children of Migrants Thrive in China’s Cities?” and Prof. Ming Lu from Shanghai Jiaotong University shared his insights on population movement and mobility.
Prof. Scott Rozelle, Stanford University
Prof. Ming Lu, Shanghai Jiaotong University
The academic workshop of the Forum was held in the evening. Chaired by IESR Assistant Prof. Jun Hyung Kim, four young scholars presented their latest findings related to children of migrants in the workshop.
Hanzhi Hu from the University of Oxford presented her paper entitled “Moving Back and Forth: A Longitudinal Study of the Educational Consequences of Child Migration in China”; Xiao Ma from the University of Pennsylvania presented his research entitled “In and Beyond ‘Study Changes Fate’: An Ethnographic Research Based on County-Level Middle High Schools in China”; Xiangqing Liu from the University of Glasgow shared with the particpats his paper” Can Diversity Promote Inter-Group Relations? Evidence from The Random Assignment of Students in Chinese Middle Schools” and Associate Prof. Menghan Shen from Sun Yat-sen University presented her paper “Migrant Children’s Take-up for Social Health Insurance: Experimental Evidence from China”
Hanzhi Hu (upper left), Xiao Ma (upper right),
Xiangqing Liu(lower left), Menghan Shen (lower right)
