How do they become globally high achieving? Trajectories, struggles, and achievements of ethnic Chinese humanities and social sciences scholars

Abstract

On the world stage of the humanities and social sciences (HSS), ethnic Chinese scholars and their scholarship as a whole are arguably not yet considered mainstream. However, a growing number of ethnic Chinese HSS scholars have become internationally recognized in their respective fields, producing scholarship of global and lasting influence. These scholars are referred to in this study as globally high-achieving scholars. Enquiring into how certain ethnic Chinese HSS scholars become globally high achieving, this study aims to unravel the trajectories, struggles, and achievements of these scholars; contribute to the literature on scholars’ academic development and on Chinese scholars; and provide recommendations for scholarly training in higher education in and beyond Greater China. It uses a narrative research design to explore the life and academic trajectories of globally high-achieving scholars, and reveals reasons associated with their achievements. In particular, the article highlights the scholars’ possession of strong resilience, engagement with Chinese traditional cultures and knowledges, development of multiple lenses, and realization of the state of ‘zide (自得)’, meaning staying true to oneself. This study is one of the first empirical attempts to explore this topic, and it makes both conceptual and practical contributions to the field.