Study Gods offers a rare look at the ways privileged youth in China prepare themselves to join the ranks of the global elite. Yi-Lin Chiang shows how these competitive Chinese high schoolers first become “study gods” (xueshen), a term describing academically high-performing students. Constant studying, however, is not what explains their success, for these young people appear god-like in their effortless abilities to excel. Instead, Chiang explores how elite adolescents achieve by absorbing and implementing the rules surrounding status.
Drawing from eight years of fieldwork and extensive interviews, Chiang reveals the important lessons that Chinese youth learn in their pursuit of elite status. They understand the hierarchy of the status system, recognizing and acquiring the characteristics that are prized, while avoiding those that are not. They maintain status by expecting differential treatment and performing status-based behaviors, which guide their daily interactions with peers, teachers, and parents. Lastly, with the help of resourceful parents, they rely on external assistance in the face of potential obstacles and failures. Chiang looks at how students hone these skills, applying them as they head to colleges and careers around the world, and in their relationships with colleagues and supervisors.
Highlighting another facet of China’s rising power, Study Gods announces the arrival of a new generation to the realm of global competition.
Yi-Lin Chiang is assistant professor of sociology at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. Twitter @chiang_yilin Instagram @yilin.chiang
"The importance of this study is . . . that while most research so far om social inequality and status reproduction (as distinct from upward social mobility) has considered thewe phenomena as restricted to one country, it is now shown that the elite students of China are part of the dynamics of elite status reproduction on a global scale."—Bart Dessein, Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies
"Impressive. . . . Study Gods provides a vivid picture and in-depth analysis of privileged students from the top high schools in China’s capital and how they compete for university places in a hyper-competitive educational system or aim to move to top ranked US universities. It is a significant contribution to our understanding of meaning in the Chinese elite high school system."—Martin Lockett, Asian Affairs
“Beautifully written, vividly detailed, and hard to put down, Study Gods takes us on a fascinating journey into the test-centered world of selective Chinese high schools, where high-performing students have exalted status. Remarkably, Chiang followed these young people for several years as they moved through Ivy League colleges and into high-status jobs in Europe and the United States. Highly recommended!”—Annette Lareau, author of Unequal Childhoods
“Highly significant, Study Gods follows a group of socioeconomically elite students from China over several years. With nuanced discussions and drawing from interdisciplinary literature in sociology, education, and anthropology, this accessible work will appeal to readers interested in the rise of China.”—Yingyi Ma, author of Ambitious and Anxious
“With conceptual clarity and rigorous analysis, this fascinating book unfolds the complex process through which adolescents of privileged parents in China strategically navigate the education systems to maximize their chances of achieving academic success and winning global competition. Chiang also dispels the myth of the ‘tiger mother,’ drawing attention to the paramount importance of social class in shaping values, norms, practices, and socioeconomic outcomes.”—Min Zhou, coauthor of The Asian American Achievement Paradox
“This highly engaging and beautifully written book offers a rich analysis of the lives, perspectives, and experiences of the ‘study gods.’ Chiang’s holistic, longitudinal approach provides a deep understanding of the world’s most academically and socioeconomically elite Chinese students.”—Vanessa Fong, Amherst College
