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“Ambitious and Anxious offers a multifaceted analysis of the new wave of Chinese students based on research in both Chinese high schools and American higher-education institutions. I argue that these students’ experiences embody the duality of ambition and anxiety that arises from transformative social changes in China. These students and their families have the ambition to navigate two very different educational systems and societies. Yet the intricacy and pressure of these systems generate a great deal of anxiety, from applying to colleges before arriving, to studying and socializing on campus, and to looking ahead upon graduation." 

Yingyi Ma is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Senior Research Associate in the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, where she is also director of the Asian/Asian American Studies Program. She is a sociologist of education and migration. Her new book, titled Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education, is published by Columbia University Press. Another line of her work examines who study what and why, and the labor market consequences of educational choices. This line of work has resulted in peer-reviewed research articles. She is a fellow of the Public Intellectuals Program of the National Committee on United States- China Relations.