Dr. Lixin Ren is Associate Professor at the Department of the Educational Studies in the Academy of Future Education at XJTLU. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with a specialization in developmental psychology.Dr. Ren’s research interests center on how various familial and extrafamilial factors may impact young children’s development in the Chinese context. She has conducted projects focused on Chinese parents’ changing childrearing beliefs and practices, mother-father and parent-grandparent co-parenting, and young children’s involvement in organized extracurricular activities (xingqu ban). She has also been involved in cross-cultural research on childrearing, including projects on parents’ perceptions of children’s maladaptive behaviors, young children’s experiences of COVID-19, and mothers’ metacognitions during mother-toddler interactions.

Parenting, grandparenting, and co-parenting

Child involvement in extracurricular activities

Social-emotional learning

Cross-cultural psychology

Associate Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, 2023-present

Associate Professor, East China Normal University, 2017-2023

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015-2016

EDS416: Understanding Families in Educational and Community Settings

Courses taught at East China Normal University (2017-2022): Developmental Psychology (发展心理学); Methodologies and Methods in Educational Research (教育研究方法); Introduction to Psychology (教育的心理学基础); The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education: Theory and Practice (瑞吉欧教育理念：理论与实践); Role of Family and Community in Early Childhood (学前教育中的家庭和社区研究); Academic Writing for Doctoral Students(科研论文写作); Frontiers in Early Childhood Education Research (学前教育研究前沿)

Changning Young Innovation Talent. Shanghai Changning District. 2020

Tin Ka Ping Visiting Fellowship Scheme Award (Inviting University: The University of Hong Kong). Tin Ka Ping Foundation. 2018

2018 Forbes 30 under 30 China. 2018

Dean’s Fellowship. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 2013-2014

American Educational Research Association (AERA) Summer Statistics Institute Fellow. 2012

Chancellor’s Fellowship. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 2010-2011