Book Club: Monday, June 7, 2027, 2-4pm. Fellows and External Fellows – Zoom only event

June 7, 2027,  2-4 pm – Fellows and External Fellows

The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China by Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li (2025)

Discussion Leader: Peter Alberti

The Gaokao is a tournament, set up by the centralized Chinese government to make educational competition the basis for social and economic advancement. The results of the tournament determine admission to the country’s hierarchical, tiered system of university and college education. The Gaokao looms large over the life of students and their families throughout China, seen as making or breaking the future of a family’s children. The authors are economists who experienced the Gaokao firsthand, before studying and teaching abroad. Their research on its role and impact shed valuable light on modern China. (Available in hardcover, e-book; 256 pages)

The link to register is https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/hukWFFfLxR

The deadline to register is the Monday morning the day of the event at 8 am. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants only.

If you have any questions, please contact the organizer, Mary Jane Ashley at maryjane.ashley@utoronto.ca.