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Undergraduate honors student Shuang Chen wins Firestone Medal, Kennedy Honors Thesis Prize

Shuang Chen
Shuang Chen

Undergraduate honors student Shuang Chen wins Firestone Medal, Kennedy Honors Thesis Prize

Chen will receive the awards at Paul Brest Hall at a ceremony to be held this Saturday as part of Commencement Weekend.

Shuang Chen, a student in the Undergraduate Honors in Education Program, will receive the Firestone Medal and the David M. Kennedy Honors Thesis Prize for her study on the effects of rural-to-urban migration in China on the academic engagement of children of migrant workers. She will receive the awards at Paul Brest Hall at a ceremony to be held this Saturday as part of Commencement Weekend.

Chen examined the effects of the migration status of workers on the schooling experience of their children, and the extent to which boys and girls experienced these effects differently. Drawing on data collected in Beijing migrant schools and rural schools in China's Henan and Shaanxi provinces, Chen compared two groups of children of migrant workers—those left behind in rural villages when their parents moved to urban areas and those who relocated with their parents to cities—with rural children whose parents did not migrate. She found that youth who migrated from rural to urban environments were more likely to become less engaged in school because of factors associated with parental absence and poor school quality. Chen found that girls were particularly vulnerable to academic disengagement.

Assistant Professor Jennifer Adams, who served as Chen's advisor on the project, wrote in an email: "Shuang's thesis is an exceptional example of undergraduate research. Her research topic considers perhaps one of the most socially significant challenges faced by the Chinese state and local governments—the education and welfare of the children of migrant workers...Shuang is a promising young scholar, and her work makes important contributions in the areas of migration, research, the educational experiences of marginalized groups, and gender inequality in China."

Chen, who graduates with a BS in Mathematics this Sunday, plans to co-term in the International Comparative Education master's program this fall and continue to work with Adams.

The Firestone Medal recognizes the top 10 percent of all honors theses in social science, science and engineering. The Kennedy Prize is awarded annually to graduating students who have written outstanding honors theses in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences or engineering. Recipients of this award have accomplished significantly advanced research in the field and have shown strong potential for publication in peer-reviewed scholarly works.

The Undergraduate Honors in Education Program provides Stanford undergraduates with an opportunity to supplement their major field(s) of study with courses and research in the field of education. Students pursue independent inquiry under the close mentorship of School of Education faculty.


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