Family & Life Course | Gender & Sexuality | Health & Healthcare | Race, Ethnicity & Immigration

Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2016

M.A., The Ohio State University, 2012

B.A., Renmin University of China, 2010

Dr. Yue Qian (pronounced Yew-ay Chian) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver). Her research and teaching interests focus on family demography, gender, health and well-being, and research methods. She has conducted research in North American and East Asian contexts.

Dr. Yue Qian is interested in understanding how gender intersects with family and population processes, such as assortative mating (i.e., who marries whom), divisions of labor, parenthood, and migration, to shape individual well-being and societal inequality.

Her current research focuses on two themes in North American and East Asian contexts. First, she seeks to understand how changing gender roles influence assortative mating. In particular, she is interested in examining the consequences of the gender-gap reversal in education for marriage patterns.

Second, she seeks to understand how family and population processes, such as divisions of labor, family relations, and immigration, perpetuate social inequality in various domains (e.g., health, subjective well-being, earnings, etc.). In particular, by adopting an international perspective, her research investigates how gendered outcomes in the family domain are shaped by cultural and institutional contexts, such as gender inequality in the labor market and normative expectations about men’s and women’s family roles.

1. Variation and Trends in Assortative Mating

Hu, Yang and Yue Qian. (2019). "Educational and Age Assortative Mating in China: The Importance of Marriage Order." Demographic Research, 41, 53-82. (Two authors contributed equally to the work)

• Access link here (open access with replication materials)

Qian, Zhenchao and Yue Qian. (2019). “Generation, Education, and Intermarriage of Asian Americans.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

• Access link here

Tian, Felicia F., Yue Qian, and Zhenchao Qian. (2018). "Hukou Locality and Intermarriages in Two Chinese Cities: Shanghai and Shenzhen." Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 56, 12-20. (The first two authors share primary authorship)

• Access link here

Qian, Yue and Zhenchao Qian. (2017). "Assortative Mating by Education and Hukou in Shanghai." Chinese Sociological Review, 49(3), 239-262.

• Access link here (open access with replication materials)
• Read Globe & Mail coverage of this paper
• Read a brief report of this paper in Chinese

Qian, Yue. (2017). “Gender Asymmetry in Educational and Income Assortative Marriage.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 79(2), 318-336.

• Access link here
• Read UBC News coverage of this paper
• Watch Global News Hour at 6 Interview with me (between 18:59 and 19:59)

Qian, Yue and Zhenchao Qian. (2014). “Gender Divide in Urban China: Singlehood and Assortative Mating by Age and Education.” Demographic Research, 31, 1337-1364.

• Access link here (open access with replication materials)
• Read Economist coverage of this paper
• Read a brief report of this paper in Chinese

2. Consequences of Assortative Mating

Fan, Wen and Yue Qian. (2019). "Rising Educational Gradients in Mortality Among U.S. Whites: What Are the Roles of Marital Status and Educational Homogamy?" Social Science & Medicine.

• Access link here

Qian, Zhenchao, Yuan Cheng, and Yue Qian. (2019). "Hukou, Marriage, and Access to Wealth in Shanghai." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

• Access link here
• Read a brief report of this paper in Chinese

Li, Ningzi and Yue Qian. (2018). "The Impact of Educational Pairing and Urban Residency on Household Financial Investments in Urban China." Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 39(4), 551-565. (Two authors contributed equally to the work)

• Access link here

Qian, Yue. (2018). “Educational Assortative Mating and Income Dynamics in Couples: A Longitudinal and Dyadic Perspective.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(3), 607-621.

• Access link here

Qian, Yue. (2017). "Educational Assortative Mating and Female Breadwinning Trajectories: A Group-Based Trajectory Analysis." In Intimate Relationships and Social Change. Published online: 07 Sep 2017; 95-123.

• Access link here

3. Family Dynamics, Population Processes, and Gender Inequality

Yavorsky, Jill E., Lisa A. Keister, Yue Qian, and Michael Nau. (2019). “Women in the One Percent: Gender Dynamics in Top Income Positions.” American Sociological Review, 84(1), 54-81.

• Access link here
• Read a brief report of this paper in English
• Read The Washington Post coverage of this paper

Qian, Yue and Wen Fan. (2018). “Men and Women at Work: Occupational Gender Composition and Affective Well-Being in the United States.” Journal of Happiness Studies.

• Access link here
• Read a brief report of this paper in English
• Read CBC News coverage of this paper

Qian, Yue, Claudia Buchmann, and Zhe Zhang. (2018). "Gender Differences in Educational Adaptation of Immigrant-Origin Youth in the United States." Demographic Research, 38, 1155-1188.

• Access link here

Qian, Yue and Yongai Jin. (2018). "Women's Fertility Autonomy in Urban China: The Role of Couple Dynamics Under the Universal Two-Child Policy." Chinese Sociological Review, 50(3), 275-309.

• Access link here
• Read UBC News coverage of this paper
• Read a brief report of this paper in Chinese or English
• One of the most read articles published in Chinese Sociological Review

Yavorsky, Jill E., Philip N. Cohen, and Yue Qian. (2016). “Man Up, Man Down: Race-Ethnicity and the Hierarchy of Men in Female-Dominated Work.” The Sociological Quarterly, 57(4), 733- 758.

• Access link here
• Read Society Pages coverage of this paper

Qian, Yue and Liana C. Sayer. (2016). “Division of Labor, Gender Ideology, and Marital Satisfaction in East Asia.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(2), 383-400.

• Access link here

Qian, Yue and Zhenchao Qian. (2015). “Work, Family, and Gendered Happiness among Married People in Urban China.” Social Indicators Research, 121, 61-74.

• Access link here

4. Family Dynamics, Population Processes, and Health and Well-being

Fan, Wen and Yue Qian. (2017). "Native-Immigrant Occupational Segregation and Worker Health in the United States, 2004–2014." Social Science & Medicine, 183, 130-141.

• Access link here

Qian, Yue and Chris Knoester. (2015). “Parental Status and Subjective Well-being among Currently Married Individuals in China.” Journal of Family Issues, 36(10), 1351-1376.

• Access link here

Fan, Wen and Yue Qian. (2015). “Long-Term Health and Socioeconomic Consequences of Early-Life Exposure to the 1959-61 Chinese Famine.” Social Science Research, 49, 53-69.

• Access link here
• Read a brief report of this paper in Chinese

Recent Awards (Since Appointment at the University of British Columbia)

• The 2019 Dean of Arts Faculty Research Award (2019-2020)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant (2018-2020)
• Fellowship -- The 2nd Summer Institute for Migration Research Methods, Russell Sage Foundation (2019)
• Arts Work Learn International Undergraduate Research Award (2019)
• SSHRC Exchange -- Arts International Conference Travel Grant (2019)
• Fellowship -- Nanjing University Zheng Gang Visiting Scholars Program (2018-2019)
• Travel Award, the 2018 International Chinese Sociological Association Annual Conference and the first meeting of the Princeton Research Network on Contemporary China (2018)
• Arts Work Learn International Undergraduate Research Award (2018)
• Faculty of Arts Workshop & Visiting Speaker Grant (2017)
• Hampton Fund Research Grant -- New Faculty Award (2016-2018)

Dr. Yue Qian works closely with graduate students. Her graduate supervision involves the following practices:

1. Get to know students and carefully assess their needs.
2. Work with students to establish a strong research plan.
3. Encourage students to write early and often.
4. Initiate regular contact and provide high quality feedback.
5. Inspire and motivate students to become knowledge producers.
6. Get students involved in the life of the department and the larger academic community.
7. Take an active interest in students' future careers.
8. Help if academic or personal crises occur.

Teaching

The core of Dr. Yue Qian's teaching philosophy is to foster curiosity, critical thinking, and confidence in students.

She teaches Theories of Family and Kinship, Social Statistics II, and Diversity in Family Forms at the University of British Columbia.

Public Sociology

Dr. Yue Qian has a strong commitment to conveying academic research to a wider audience. The goal of her public engagement with research is to increase global awareness regarding issues of family, gender, and social justice among diverse audiences. As a gender scholar and feminist, Dr. Qian is particularly passionate about translating gender research into the empowerment of women and advocacy for gender equality around the world.

Dr. Yue Qian is the primary founder and editor of, and contributor to a public account “Ms-Muses (缪斯夫人)” on WeChat (China’s largest social media platform). She edits and writes research-based commentaries on gender and family issues. The number of account subscribers has exceeded 40,000 and is still growing.

Here is a select list of her most popular blog posts (written in Chinese):

一位“坚持走科研道路”女学者的自白 (How I defied expectations to become a feminist professor; English translation)   

在加拿大当助理教授的第一年：如何管理时间、情绪和研究进度? (How to manage your time, emotion, and research progress as pre-tenure faculty members?)

和谁结婚这件事，你知道是哪些因素决定的吗? (Searching for a mate: Social and demographic factors that influence who marries whom)

Dr. Qian has been actively disseminating social science research through many channels and media. For example, she was invited to give a TED-style public talk on changing marriage patterns in the global context. This talk, delivered in Chinese, has been viewed over 2.5 million times since its video was available online. You may also read its transcript in Chinese or in English.