Maxwell School News and Commentary

“The COVID pandemic is a great example of a current event that is changing every aspect of society—from how families are organized to how we deliver education and the structure of work,” says Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs Colleen Heflin.

"I worry that this potentially undermines Chinese students’ learning opportunities," says Yingyi Ma, associate professor of sociology, about U.S. university faculty members suggesting that Chinese students wait to enroll in certain courses until they can return to campus for in-person instruction.

Dimitar Gueorguiev, assistant professor of political science, and his co-authors, emphasizes the need to protect data security, provide risk disclosure to students, promote open discussion while ensuring student safety, respect instructor autonomy, and offer support and guidance to students and faculty facing repercussions for engaging in sensitive content.

"A large majority of Chinese students [are] coming to study in the U.S. not for political reasons," says Yingyi Ma, associate professor of sociology. "What they really want is quality education opportunities, so that they can improve their career prospects, or they can broaden their horizons and really enjoy being in the process of cultivating their global citizenship."

"Our challenge is to use the insights and critical reflections of our moment to create critical, anti-racist and inclusive studying spaces, in ways that resist the neoliberal tendency towards policy standardisation and replicable models, and the job cuts that often come with it," writes Associate Professor of Geography and the Environment Farhana Sultana and her co-authors.

Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, professor of economics, says that graduate school is generally a smart option for students graduating during an economic downturn, provided they balance the added debt with demand for jobs in their desired profession. He added that students should look for programs that help them build connections and network with future employers. 

Now, "Chinese international students in the U.S. overwhelmingly consider China a safer place, with [their] government more competently handling the crisis than the American government," says Yingyi Ma, associate professor of sociology. "That is why so many Chinese students have returned home, despite the high risk of international travel and the enormous difficulty in buying airplane tickets."