The research team from the NYU Shanghai Center for Applied Social and Economic Research (CASER) was recently invited to pay a 3-day visit to the Population Studies Center at University of Pennsylvania from March 27-29, 2024, and participated in the Research Workshop on “Environmental Contexts of Childhood in China”, followed by the close-door meeting on preliminary data analyses and findings from the collaborative research project on the Survey on Early Education and Development Study (SEEDS).

Hosted by Dr. Emily Hannum, Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professor in the Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology, and Associate Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, and Jere R. Behrman, WR Kenan Jr Professor of Economics & Sociology at University of Pennsylvania, the workshop provided a platform for collaborative research initiatives to examine socioeconomic and environmental dynamics in early childhood development in China. 

The event commenced with a warm welcome and introductions to the SEEDS project partners by Professor Emily Hannum and Professor Xiaogang Wu. Professor Wu, who serves as the Director of the Center for Applied Social and Economic Research at NYU Shanghai, Yufeng Global Professor of Social Science and Professor of Sociology at NYU Shanghai and New York University, introduced the team from both sides and set the stage for fruitful sharing and discussions.

Professor Jia Miao, Assistant Professor of Sociology at NYU Shanghai, delivered a thought-provoking public talk, “Early Childhood Life-Course Heat Exposures in an Urban Setting: Preliminary Insights from the SEEDS Project”, which provided valuable insights into the potential impact of early life-course heat exposures on child development in Chinese cities.

The close-door meeting workshop also included the discussion of preliminary projects on grandparenting, digital nanny, gender disparities in early childhood development outcomes, led by members of the CASER team, including Dr. Xin Li from NYU Shanghai, Prof. Gaoming Ma from Zhejiang University, and Mr. Minghong Shen from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). Participants also explored potential research topics using the SEEDS data, covering themes such as socioeconomic inequality in child development, parental psychosocial well-being, cumulative heat/pollution exposure effects, and among others. 

Finally, the CASER team expressed gratitude to the University of Pennsylvania for hosting this impactful event and looks forward to future collaborations to address critical issues in early childhood development in Chinese context.

The event was supported by the National Science Foundation (1756738) and the Penn Environmental Innovations Initiative (CECI Seminars). This panel is part of the Penn-NYU Shanghai Workshop on Inequalities and Child Development seminar series, launched in December, 2022.