Research & Impact
Research focusing on what happens in the workplace
Over the last decade or so, countries across Asia have been experiencing fundamental changes brought on by a combination of new technologies and shifting economic forces.
More recently, of course, there has also been the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which, besides the public health aspect, has upended many businesses and derailed the study and career plans of any number of young people.
Coming to terms with everything that’s happening - and understanding what it means for the workforce - is not always easy. But scholars in various departments at Lingnan University have been more than playing their part by tracking trends, analysing reasons and root causes, and setting out their views on where things are heading and what to expect next.
Some of the resulting research projects and papers can be grouped together under the broad theme of employment, youth transition and well-being in the context of Hong Kong society.
However, the work done also takes due account of the international and comparative dimensions and how the higher education systems in Asia and further afield should be evolving to meet new challenges.
Often urged on by governments, there has been greater focus on – and more students enrolled in - courses intended to speed up the transition to a knowledge-based economy and create a more entrepreneurial, innovation-driven corps of graduates ready to enter the workplace.
That looks great in principle, but in the short term at least, these efforts have in fact exacerbated the problems of graduate unemployment or underemployment, not helped by the general slowdown in hiring associated with Covid.
A quick analysis shows that the rapid expansion in the supply of new talent with qualifications in favoured disciplines was not in line with actual market demand. And, not surprisingly, that realisation sparked both public policy debate and wide-ranging academic research into the social and economic consequences at different levels within the community.
Wanting to contribute in meaningful ways, Lingnan University formed a research team to look into a series of ultimately related aspects. These went from the “massification” and privatisation of higher education to the changing social production of labour, and the transition of young people from education to the workplace.
Importantly, it also extended to youth well-being in a time of new uncertainties and stresses, as well as the likely public policy implications.
In keeping with Lingnan’s “Impact with Care” philosophy, each of the research projects is linked to one or more of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly covering quality education; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure; and good health and well-being. Their purpose is to give countries around the world a clear roadmap for the 21st century and to balance mankind’s needs with the essential preservation of the natural environment.
Another of the SDGs is to promote partnerships that help to address these regional and global issues more effectively. Lingnan has done that by first establishing strong research links with partner institutions in Europe and Asia, with more no doubt to follow.
An impressive list already includes centres at the University of Oxford and the Institute of Education at University College London. There is also the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Turku in Finland, and research groups based in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Stavanger in Norway.
So far, counted among the prestigious partners in Asia are the Graduate School of Education at Peking University and the College of Education at National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
The immediate benefit of such tie-ups is that they provide a platform for professors and postgraduates to test out theories and exchange ideas. Besides that, though, they also open up new opportunities to co-host international conferences and symposia on topical themes, and to collaborate on the publication of viewpoints and findings in some of the academic world’s most respected journals.
Indeed, over the last couple of years, the Lingnan team has maintained a steady output of peer-reviewed papers, chapters and articles, each adding to the university’s reputation as a leader in liberal arts education in Asia.
Neatly illustrating the scale and scope of the research undertaken are three recent publications by Professor Ngai Pun, head and chair professor of Cultural Studies in the Department of Cultural Studies.
One examined the making of the new Chinese working class, whose efforts and struggles are significantly reshaping the future of class relations in China and around the world.
Another involved a critical policy analysis of unemployment insurance in Hong Kong, which, in this respect, many would consider a city of exceptional risks. And a third addressed the question of moblising truck drivers in China, with its implications for the new migrant struggle and the emergence of “infrastructural capitalism”.
Other scholars, working either solo or in collaboration, have studied the effectiveness of working from home during Covid; the psychological distance among Hong Kong’s working adults with regard to the Greater Bay Area; the self-perceived employability of students in human resource development (HRD) programmes; and personal income and happiness in a rich global city.
Research publications on Employment
Year 2022
Publication | Researcher(s) / Unit(s) |
How LMX and marketing capabilities guide and motivate customer-facing employees’ learning |
Prof Hiu Kan Ada WONG |
Investigating Self-Perceived Employability, Ambition, and University Commitment of Students in HRD Programs |
Dr Yidan Daisy ZHU |
Year 2021
Publication | Researcher(s) / Unit(s) |
Dr Man Kong CHOW |
|
Hong Kong and GBA: Psychological Distance among Hong Kong Working Adults |
Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK |
Personal income, local communities and happiness in a rich global city: evidence from Hong Kong | Prof Stefan KÜHNER Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy Prof Ka Wai Maggie LAU Research Associate Professor, School of Graduate Studies Prof Jin JIANG Prof Zhuoyi Vincent WEN |
The making of the new Chinese working class | Prof Ngai PUN Head and Chair Professor of Cultural Studies, Department of Cultural Studies |
Mobilizing Truck Drivers in China: New Migrant Struggle and the Emergence of Infrastructural Capitalism | Prof Ngai PUN Head and Chair Professor of Cultural Studies, Department of Cultural Studies |
Job satisfaction among healthcare workers in Ghana and Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic: Role of perceived preparedness, stress, and burnout | Mr Pascal AGBADI PhD Student, Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
A city of exceptional risks? A critical policy analysis of Hong Kong unemployment insurance | Prof Ngai PUN Head and Chair Professor of Cultural Studies, Department of Cultural Studies |
Promoting effectiveness of “working from home”: findings from Hong Kong working population under COVID-19 | Prof Hiu Kan Ada WONG Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Graduate Studies Ms Oi Wun Joyce CHEUNG |
Year 2020
Publication | Researcher(s) / Unit(s) |
Dying for an iPhone : Apple, Foxconn, and the lives of China's workers |
Prof Ngai PUN |
Transgressing North–South divide : Foxconn Production Regimes in China and the Czech Republic |
Prof Ngai PUN |
One firm, two countries, one workplace model? The case of Foxconn’s internationalisation | Prof Ngai PUN Head and Chair Professor of Cultural Studies, Department of Cultural Studies |
The new Chinese working class in struggle | Prof Ngai PUN Head and Chair Professor of Cultural Studies, Department of Cultural Studies |
Conceptualising socio-economic formations of labour and workers’ power in global production networks | Prof Ngai PUN Head and Chair Professor of Cultural Studies, Department of Cultural Studies |
Beyond the Limits of the Productivist Regime : Capturing Three Decades of East Asian Welfare Development with Fuzzy Sets | Prof Stefan KÜHNER Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
The Politics of MPF Reform : Lessons from Public Attitudes in Hong Kong | Prof Stefan KÜHNER Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
Research publications on Youth Transition and Well-Being
Year 2022
Publication | Researcher(s) / Unit(s) |
Ms Evelyn Aboagye ADDAE |
|
Credential Inflation and Decredentialization: Re-examining the Mechanism of the Devaluation of Degrees |
Prof Satoshi ARAKI |
Reconceptualising Youth Poverty through the Lens of Precarious Employment during the Pandemic : The Case of Creative Industry | Prof Ngai PUN Head and Chair Professor of Cultural Studies, Department of Cultural Studies Ms Peier CHEN PhD Student, Department of Cultural Studies |
Self-reported sexually transmitted infections among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa | Mr Francis ARTHUR-HOLMES PhD Student, Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
Determinants of life satisfaction among Ghanaians aged 15 to 49 years: A further analysis of the 2017/2018 Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey | Mr Pascal AGBADI PhD Student, Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
Teaching and Learning in Hong Kong Higher Education | Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK Vice-President, Office of the President Prof Weiyan XIONG Research Assistant Professor, School of Graduate |
Higher education reform in China: A comprehensive review of policymaking, implementation, and outcomes since 1978 | Prof Weiyan XIONG Research Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies |
Higher Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Comparative Perspectives : Reengineering China Through the Greater Bay Economy and Development | Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK Vice-President, Office of the President |
Unpacking the complexities of child well‐being in Southeast Asia: Insights for social policy | Mr Hamzah Nor BIN AEDY RAHMAN PhD Student, School of Graduate Studies Mr Tauchid Komara YUDA PhD Student, Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
Seeking pleasure or growth? The mediating role of happiness motives in the longitudinal relationship between social mobility beliefs and well-being in college students | Prof Li Jocelyn LIN Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies and Department of Applied Psychology |
Adolescents’ filial piety attitudes in relation to their perceived parenting styles: An urban–rural comparative longitudinal study in China | Prof Li Jocelyn LIN Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies and Department of Applied Psychology |
The COVID-19 Pandemic and International Higher Education in East Asia | Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK Vice-President, Office of the President |
Year 2021
Year 2020
Publication | Researcher(s) / Unit(s) |
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on International Higher Education and Student Mobility: Student Perspectives from Mainland China and Hong Kong | Prof Weiyan XIONG Research Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK Vice-President, Office of the President Ms Guoguo Rainie KE Administrative Officer, School of Graduate Studies Ms Oi Wun Joyce CHEUNG |
Hong Kong University students’ online learning experiences under the COVID-19 pandemic | Prof Weiyan XIONG Research Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies Prof Jin JIANG Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK Vice-President, Office of the President |
Perceptions of Neglect and Well-Being among Independent Child Migrants in Ghana | Prof Padmore Adusei AMOAH Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies |
Tertiary Education and Innovation in the Greater Bay Area |
Dr Man Kong CHOW Mr Wing Lok HUNG |
Materialism in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong: Profiles and and social-demographic correlates |
Prof Li Jocelyn LIN |
Promotion of service leadership qualities in Chinese university students: Objective outcome evaluation based on six waves of data |
Prof Li Jocelyn LIN |
Positive Youth Development |
Prof Li Jocelyn LIN |
Nurturing Holistic Development in University Students Through Leadership Courses: The Hong Kong Experience |
Prof Li Jocelyn LIN |
Perceptions of Adolescents, Teachers and Parents of Life Skills Education and Life Skills in High School Students in Hong Kong |
Prof Li Jocelyn LIN |
The relationship between positive youth development and depressive symptoms among chinese early adolescents: A three-year cross-lagged analysis |
Prof Li Jocelyn LIN |
Having less but giving more : work experience and prosocial behavior of Chinese working-class youth |
Prof Ngai PUN |
Gender ideologies of youth in post-socialist China : their gender-role attitudes, antecedents, and socio-psychological impacts |
Prof Ngai PUN |
‘Emotional authoritarianism’ : state, education and the mobile working-class subjects |
Prof Ngai PUN |
Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK |
|
Shining a Spotlight on Tribal Colleges and Universities in the US |
Prof Weiyan XIONG |
Hong Kong in brief : children's subjective well-being |
Prof Stefan KÜHNER |
Towards corporatized collaborative governance: the multiple networks model and entrepreneurial universities in Hong Kong |
Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK |
グローバル化時代の教育政策・実践 : win-winとなるデザインを |
Prof Satoshi ARAKI |
9月入学導入に対する教育保育における社会的影響に関する報告書 |
Prof Satoshi ARAKI |
9 月入学の「隠れたコスト」: 新卒者 の「放棄所得」と国の「逸失税収」 |
Prof Satoshi ARAKI |
効果的な人材育成内容 : 方法を設計するための3つのステップ |
Prof Satoshi ARAKI |
Educational Expansion, Skills Diffusion, and the Economic Value of Credentials and Skills |
Prof Satoshi ARAKI |
Socioeconomic and demographic determinants of familial social capital inequalities: a cross-sectional study of young people in sub-Saharan African context |
Ms Evelyn Aboagye ADDAE |
Contesting Globalisation and Implications for Higher Education in the Asia–Pacific Region: Challenges and Prospects |
Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK |
Critical Reflections on Mainland China and Taiwan Overseas Returnees’ Job Searches and Career Development Experiences in the Rising Trend of Anti-globalisation |
Prof Weiyan XIONG |
Special Issue: Promoting global cities status: talent attraction and retention in Asia |
Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK |
Children's Worlds National Report: China - Hong Kong (SAR) |
Prof Ka Wai Maggie LAU |
Sustainability Practices of Higher Education Institutions in Hong Kong : A Case Study of a Sustainable Campus Consortium |
Prof Weiyan XIONG |
Government innovation policy and higher education: the case of Shenzhen, China |
Prof Weiyan XIONG |
Revisiting the innovation systems of cross-border cities: the role of higher education institution and cross-boundary cooperation in Hong Kong and Shenzhen |
Dr Yuyang KANG |
Riding over the National and Global Disequilibria: International Learning and Academic Career Development of Chinese Ph.D. Returnees |
Prof Jin JIANG |
遺伝か環境か?ゲノム科学と社会科学の融合 (Sociogenomics) が教育界にもたらすイノベーション |
Prof Satoshi ARAKI |
オンライン教育の課題と展望 : 格差のない新たな学びのモデル構築へ | Prof Satoshi ARAKI Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
Higher Education Financing Trends in Africa |
Prof Weiyan XIONG |
The mediating role of social capital in the relationship between socioeconomic status and adolescent wellbeing: evidence from Ghana | Ms Evelyn Aboagye ADDAE PhD Student, Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
The quest for global talent for changing economic needs: a study of student mobility and job prospects for returnees in China |
Prof Ka Ho Joshua MOK |