Childhood, Youth, and Globalization: Some Theoretical Perspectives with Reflections on China

It is a great privilege to participate in this book honoring the work of Ruth Hayhoe. Ruth has been a wonderful mentor and friend for over 25 years, and it is not an exaggeration to say that her support is largely responsible for the professional success I have achieved in my own career. Having said this, I do need to additionally note that it has occasionally been difficult being one of Ruth’s colleagues. We, as academicians, are socialized into comparing our work and productivity with those of our colleagues and friends, not necessarily in the spirit of competition, but really, in order to measure our own impact upon our fields of engagement. And this is where it can be downright depressing to acknowledge that one is a colleague of Ruth’s. As the foremost international scholar of Chinese higher education in the world, having also served as an academic administrator at the highest level in Hong Kong after successfully serving as an important Canadian diplomat, one cannot help but become depressed when Ruth has raised the bar for success to such an impossibly high degree. Such feelings are fleeting however, when one recognizes Ruth’s exceptional achievements as a scholar, colleague, and above all, friend. That exceptionalism, which is not transferable to others, is evident in the ways in which her scholarship reflects her personal values, a connection that I find to be seamless.