Yingyi Ma

• 2024 Fall
  • IRP/SOC 303 US-China Dialogue
• 2022 Fall
  • IRP/SOC 300 Selected Topics - US - China Dialogue
  • SOC 513 Statistics for Social Science
• 2022 Summer
  • SOC 300 Selected Topics - US - China Dialogue

Yingyi Ma is a professor of Sociology and director of the Asian/Asian American studies program. She received a Ph.D. in sociology from Johns Hopkins University in 2007.

Ma’s research addresses education and migration in the U.S. and China and she has published three books and numerous articles. Several projects use quantitative methods and examine fields of study often neglected in the context of education stratification, particularly how those fields provide a mobility strategy for racial minorities, the children of immigrants, and their families in the U.S. This line of research has received grants from the National Science Foundation, Alfred Sloan Foundation and the Association of Institutional Research.

Ma’s research on international education uses mixed methods including surveys and in-depth interviews. Her ' monograph,' "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education," was published by Columbia University Press in February 2020. This book won best book awards from multiple sections of the Comparative and International Education Association and the Bourdieu Best Book Award Honorable Mention from the American Sociological Association. It has been featured in national and international news media, such as The Washington Post and Times Higher Education.

She is the lead editor of Understanding International Students from Asia in American Universities: Learning and Living Globalization (2017), which has won the honorable mention of the best book award from the Comparative and International Education Association's Study Abroad and International Students Section. She is also the co-editor of a new volume International Student Experiences and Graduate Employability: Perspectives and Issues (2022), which provides a holistic understanding of international student employability on a global scale, incorporating various higher education contexts, including the US, UK, Netherlands, Vietnam, and Japan.

Ma’s research and teaching has garnered recognition and awards from Syracuse University and beyond. For 2014-2017, she was among the four inaugural recipients of the O’Hanley Endowment for Faculty Excellence in Maxwell; For 2021-2022, she is the inaugural recipient of the Yang Ni and Xiaoqing Li Endowment Fund for U.S.-China/Asia Relations in Maxwell. In 2019, she was selected as a Public Intellectual Fellow at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and she has published many essays and been a frequent commentator for national and international media outlets.

"The Social, Economic, and Health Impacts of COVID-19 in China", Sponsored by Henry Luce Foundation, Inc..

"Entry and Degree Attainment in STEM: The Intersection of Race/Ethnicity and Gender", Sponsored by National Science Foundation.

"Liquid-Triggered Shape Memory Polymer Devices", Sponsored by Baxter Healthcare Corporation.

"Battlefield Perceptions of Engineering: An Institutional Response to Absent Pathways and Missing Engineering Students", Sponsored by National Science Foundation.

"Immigration, Specialized Human Capital, and Wage Inequality in the U.S.", Sponsored by National Science Foundation.

• Books
  • K., M., Z., S. and Ma, Y., Home and Abroad: International Student Experiences and Graduate Employability. B., K. (eds.) Star Scholars Network, 2022.
  • Ma, Y., Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education. Columbia University Press, 2020.
  • Understanding International Students from Asia in American Universities: Learning and Living Globalization. Ma, Y., Garcia-Murrilo, M. A. (eds.) Springer, 2017.
• Journal Articles
  • Ma, Y., "Finding Firmer Ground: The Role of Higher Education in U.S.-China Relations." Carter Center Report, 2022.
  • Ma, Y., "Educating the Elites: School Counselors as Education Nannies in Urban China." Comparative Education Review, 2021.
  • Ma, Y., Xiao, S., "Math and Science Identity Change and Switching of STEM majors." Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 2021.
  • Ma, Y., "Academic Elites or Economic Elites." Journal of International Students, 2020.
  • Ma, Y., "Chinese Students are Ambitious but Anxious." University World News, 2020.
  • Ma, Y., Zhan, N., "To Mask or Not to Mask Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Chinese Students in America Experience and Cope with Stigma." Chinese Sociological Review, 2020.
  • Ma, Y., "Are Western Universities Doing Enough for Their Chinese Students?." Times Higher Education, 2019.
  • Ma, Y., "China’s Education System Produces Stellar Test Scores, so Why do 600,000 Students Head Abroad to Study?." Washington Post, 2019.
• Book Chapters
  • Ma, Y., "Will International Education in the U.S. Enter the Post-China Era?." Bista, K., Allen, R. M. and Chan, R. Y. (eds.) Impacts of COVID-19 on international students and the future of student mobility, 2021.
  • Ma, Y., "Beyond Normalization: A Roundtable Discussion on the Present and Future of Sino-American Relations." Khalil, O. F. (ed.) United States Relations with China and Iran: Towards the Asian Century, 2019.
  • Ma, Y., "Transnational Agents: Chinese International Students in America." Khalil, O. F. (ed.) United States Relations with China and Iran: Towards the Asian Century, 2019.
  • Ma, Y., Garcia-Murrilo, M. A., "Conclusion." Ma, Y., Garcia-Murrilo, M. A. (eds.) Learning and Living Globalization: Understanding International Students from Asia in American Universities, 2017.
  • Ma, Y., "Paradigm Shift: Learning is a Two-Way Street between American Universities and Asian International Students." Ma, Y., Garcia-Murrilo, M. A. (eds.) Learning and Living Globalization: Understanding International Students from Asia in American Universities, 2017.
  • Ma, Y., Atterberry, A. L., "Asian Americans in Selective Colleges and Universities." T, D. (ed.) Asian American Leadership: A Concise Reference Guide, 2015.
  • Ma, Y., Zhang, Y., "Bamboo Ceiling." T, D. (ed.) Asian American Leadership: A Concise Reference Guide, 2015.
• Book Review
  • Ma, Y., Chung, A., "Saving Face." American Journal of Sociology, 2020.
• Essays
  • Ma, Y., Job stability and security are what Chinese youth want now. Nikki Asia, 2024.
  • Ma, Y., How America Lost the Heart of China's Top Talent. Brookings, 2023.
  • Ma, Y., "Is this the end of China’s American Education Craze?." Sixth Tone, 2021.
• Newspaper Articles
  • Ma, Y., "Being Chinese away from China." China Daily, 2014.
  • Ma, Y., "The Right Time to Study Abroad." China Daily, 2014.
  • Ma, Y., "Gaokao a rite of passage, not an end point." China.org, 2012.
  • Ma, Y., "Learning to be more like each other." China.org, 2012.
  • Ma, Y., "Preparing for study abroad: not just test scores." China.org, 2012.
• Technical Reports
  • Ma, Y., Global Higher Education During COVID-19: Policy, Society, and Technology. McKeown, J. S., Bista, K. and Chan, R. Y. (eds.) STAR Scholar Networks Publishing, 2021.
  • Alexander, K., A, E., T. and Ma, Y., "A Year in the Life of Sociology of Education: A View from the Inside." Footnotes, 2006.
• White Paper
  • Ma, Y., China Studies in an Uncertain Age. , 2023.

Ma, Y., Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University, "The Transformative Power of International Education" (January 11, 2024 - January 11, 2024)

Oxford University, Center for Global Higher Education, "Transnational Education and Transformation of Privilege" (May 12, 2022)

Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, "Emergency Infrastructure: the Experience of the Pandemic" (April 21, 2022)

Columbia University, "From Elites to the Vulnerable: How Chinese International Students Suffer from Status Loss Before and During COVID" (March 10, 2022)

Winter Convocation, Syracuse University (January 18, 2022)

Maryland Institute College of Arts (December 3, 2021)

Inaugural International Student Leadership Retreat, Syracuse University (November 20, 2021)

Temple University, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (November 3, 2021)

Syracuse University Fall Convocation (August 26, 2021)

Asia Society Young Leaders Institute, "How anti-Asian hate impact Chinese and Chinese Americans" (June 22, 2021)

Center forStrategic and International Studies (CSIS), "The Role of Human Capital in U.S.-China Competition" (May 20, 2021)

Global Committee of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (May 19, 2021)

Syracuse University, "In the Moment with Frank Wu: Confronting Anti-Asian Racism" (May 12, 2021)

Syracuse University, "Asian Americans as Model Minorities Meeting the Bamboo Ceiling" (April 26, 2021)

Brown University, "Chinese Brain: Displacement and Dilemma of Chinese Students and Intellectuals Overseas" (April 10, 2021)

University of Wisconsin at Madison, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (April 9, 2021)

Renee Crown Honors Program, Syracuse University, "Confronting Anti-Asian Racism: A Public Discussion" (March 26, 2021)

U.S. Heartland China Association, "International Students Mental Health and Wellbeing" (February 8, 2021)

University of Toronto, "Learning to be Loyal: Ideology and Patriotic Education in China" (February 4, 2021)

Comparative and International Education Association Annual Meeting, "Chinese international students and American soft power" (2021)

Academic Affairs, Syracuse University, "Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms" (2021)

College of Holy Cross, "Chinese College Students in the United States: A Conversation with Yingyi Ma" (November 5, 2020)

University of Kentucky, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (November 1, 2020)

University of Albany, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (October 23, 2020)

University of Rochester, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (October 16, 2020)

University of Pennsylvania, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (September 23, 2020)

National Committee of U.S-China Relations, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (June 23, 2020)

Duke-UNC, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (February 23, 2020)

National Committee of U.S-China Relations (2020)

Chinese Studies and Asian/Asian American Studies program, Syracuse University, "Anti-Asian Racism during the COVID-19" (2020)

University of Washington at St Louis, "Challenges and Opportunities Faced by Chinese students Studying in the U.S during COVID-19" (2020)

Ma, Y., Xiao, S., American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, "Math and Science Identity Change and Switching of STEM majors" (2020)

Melissa Harris Perry Talking Equity, Syracuse University (2020)

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Syracuse University, "US-China Panel" (2020)

National Academy of Sciences, "What inhibits women’s entry to STEM fields and what could change it?" (October 28, 2019)

University of Michigan Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, "Ambitious and Anxious" (October 8, 2019)

RC04: Culture of Education of International Sociological Association, "Transnational Student mobility" (2019)

American Council of Education Fellowship , American Council of Education (June, 2023 - August, 2024)

Non-resident Senior Fellow-Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution, Brookings Institution (September, 2023)

Inaugural Faculty Award of Yang Ni and Xiaoqing Li Endowed Fund for U.S.- China/Asia Relations, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (2021 - 2022)

O’Hanley Faculty Scholar, O’Hanley Endowment for Faculty Excellence, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (2014 - 2017)