Sociology is the study of society, and society is composed of diverse groups of people. Among these groups, my primary interest lies in the younger generations, particularly children (and adolescents).
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 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, my approach to education and child development primarily centers on 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 summary, my research aims to understand children’s education and development from a perspective of social inequality. I explore how children and adolescents from different family backgrounds experience schooling differently and how these experiences translate into distinct life outcomes, from childhood to adulthood.
- Sociology of Education
- Child Development
- Social Inequality
- Contemporary China
Type | Year | Details | URL to the publication |
Journal Article | 2023 | 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 |
Journal Article | 2022 | 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 |
Journal Article | 2021 | 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 |
Journal Article | 2021 | Su, Ruolin, and Wensong Shen. 2021. “Is Nationalism Rising in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic? Individual-Level Evidence from the United States.” Journal of Chinese Political Science 26:169–187. | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-020-09696-2 |
Journal Article | 2020 | 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 |
- 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
- SOCI 6010 Guided Studies I
- SOCI 6020 Guided Studies II
- UGEA 2190 Chinese Society