Faculty Research Spotlight : Indigenization and inclusion in Chinese academia

Professor Liu Hong , our Tan Lark Sye Chair Professor of Public Policy and Global Affairs, is a corresponding author of a new article published in Nature Human Behaviour, one of the world’s leading journals in multidisciplinary social sciences, neuroscience, and psychology.

Using a novel dataset of over 3,500 Chinese national academy members spanning more than a century, the study examines how China’s academic elite has evolved amid globalisation. The findings point to declining representation of foreign-educated scholars, greater inclusion of underrepresented regions, and mixed outcomes for elite returnee academics—highlighting a broader move towards academic indigenisation.

The research offers timely insights into the sustainability of national talent policies and the future of global academic mobility.

🔗 Full article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02366-4