Cristie is a doctoral student from the Department of Education. She is interested in studying youths through the lens of higher education, particularly in terms of empowering youths and facilitating youth development through the means of higher education. For her doctoral thesis, primarily using Chinese universities and Chinese youth as a case study, she aims to understand the content and amount of hope inside university students today, scrutinise the current practice of higher education institutions in strengthening/weakening hope for university students, and envision the transformational potential of higher education in building more hope for youths in the future. Her study aspires to inspire community solutions to the issue of youth disillusionment through higher education and higher education institutions.
Before her doctoral study, she has obtained a Master of Science in Education from Oxford. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Sociology and Global Studies in Education from the University of Virginia, USA, where she was actively engaged in student affairs, demonstrating a strong commitment to multiculturalism and social justice. Her efforts were particularly focused on advocating for diversity and inclusion, as well as amplifying the voices of multicultural and marginalised students within the campus community.
Prior to pursuing her DPhil, she used to work as a research assistant at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where she specialised in the study of youths and related social issues. Additionally, she has also worked as an academic editor for a Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI) journal in the field of education.