Bio
Qin Gao is Professor of Social Policy and Social Work at Columbia University School of Social Work and Director of Columbia University’s China Center for Social Policy. She is a faculty affiliate of the Columbia Population Research Center and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and a member of the Faculty Steering Committee for the Columbia Global Centers | Beijing. She is also an Academic Board Member of the China Institute for Income Distribution at Beijing Normal University and a Public Intellectual Fellow of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. Dr. Gao’s research focuses on the Chinese welfare state in transition; welfare, work, and poverty in China; social protection for rural-to-urban migrants in China and Asian American immigrants; and cross-national comparative social policies and programs. Dr. Gao's work has been supported by multiple national and international funding sources such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Social Science Fund of China, UNICEF, and the World Bank.
Research Interests
- The Chinese welfare state in transition: size, structure, and redistributive effects
- Effectiveness and impacts of Dibao, China’s primary social assistance program, and other anti-poverty policies and programs
- Gender inequality in time use in China and beyond
- Social protection for rural-to-urban migrants in China and Asian American immigrants
- Cross-national comparative social policies and programs