Liang Zhang
Liang Zhang
Associate Professor of Education and Labor Studies
Educational Theory & Policy
310E Rackley Building
University Park, PA 16802
Email: lxz19@psu.edu
Phone: 814-863-3774
Introduction
Liang Zhang is an associate professor of Educational Theory and Policy in the Department of Education Policy Studies and a research associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Penn State. He also teaches in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations. Prior to coming to Penn State in 2009, he taught at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Vanderbilt University. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Zhang's research focuses on economics and finance of higher education, particularly on the role of governments and institutions in affecting institutional performances and student outcomes. His recent studies include the return of college education and quality, and public funding and institutional performances. Currently, he is interested in issues on academic labor market, especially the increasing usage of contingent faculty at colleges and universities. His work has appeared in The Review of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Journal of Human Resources, Economics of Education Review, Educational Policy, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research.
Areas of Expertise
- Economics of Higher Education
- Higher Education Finance and Policy
- Academic Labor Market
- Quantitative Methods
Publications
Click here for Liang Zhang's CV listing publications.
Professional Experience
- 07/2009 - 07/2011 Assistant Professor of Education and Labor Studies, Department of Education Policy Studies; Research Associate, The Center for the Study of Higher Education, The Pennsylania
- 07/2007 - 06/2009 Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Higher Education, Department of Leadership, Policy, Organizations, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
- 07/2005 - 06/2007 Assistant Professor of Education, Department of Educational Policy and Administration, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
- 08/2001 - 05/2005 Graduate Research Assistant, Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- 08/1999 - 06/2001 Graduate Research Assistant, The Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Education
- Ph.D., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2005, Economics
- M.A., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2004, Economics
- Ph.D., University of Arizona, Tucson, 2003, Higher Education
- B.A., Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 1996, English
