CHENG Cheng
Dr Cheng Cheng is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Lee Kong Chian Fellow 2022-2024. Her research interests center on gender, family, health, and aging. Her work focuses on understanding the production of social inequality through the lens of the family. She studies how extended family relationships shape gender power dynamics, wealth and income inequalities, and health disparities. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Marriage and Family, Social Forces, European Sociological Review, Social Science & Medicine, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Chinese Sociological Review, Journal of Family Psychology, among others. She is a Council Member of the Population Association of Singapore for 2022-2025. Cheng received her PhD from Princeton University in Sociology with a concentration in Demography. She completed her BA (Comprehensive Honors) in Sociology with a concentration in Analysis and Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Qualifications
- PhD in Sociology, Princeton University, 2018
- MA in Sociology, Princeton University, 2015
- BA in Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2012
Research Interests
- Gender
- Family
- Ageing
- Health
- Demography
- Stratification
- Quantitative Methods
Course(s) Taught in SMU
- Gender and Family
- Research Methods in Sociology and Political Science
Research Areas and Areas of Expertise
Strategic Priorities
HighlightsIntegrates rigorous quantitative methodology with substantive insights into gender, family, and aging; recognized for advancing understanding of household dynamics and social stratification in China and Singapore; awarded for mentorship and teaching; active in editorial and professional service roles.
Focused research areas include Intergenerational coresidence, household decision-making, marital power, gender inequality, wealth accumulation, social engagement and later-life health, educational assortative mating, and quantitative analysis of family and population trends in China and cross-national contexts.
- 2021 PI, Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 1 Grant "Social Engagement and Later-Life Health: Spousal and Cross-National Differences"
Showing up to 6 latest publications from the past 5 years.
- J Yu, C ChengSocial Forces 103 (3), 948-969, 2025
- S Wang, C ChengSocial Science Research 127 (10314), 4, 2025
- C Cheng, Y XieEuropean Sociological Review 40 (5), 802-819, 2024
- S Wang, C ChengSocial forces 102 (4), 1446-1466, 2024
- C Cheng, Y ZhouResearch in Social Stratification and Mobility 89, 100873, 2024
- C Cheng, M ZhaoResearch in Social Stratification and Mobility 85, 100800, 2023
Dr Cheng Cheng is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Lee Kong Chian Fellow 2022-2024. Her research interests center on gender, family, health, and aging. Her work focuses on understanding the production of social inequality through the lens of the family. She studies how extended family relationships shape gender power dynamics, wealth and income inequalities, and health disparities. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Marriage and Family, Social Forces, European Sociological Review, Social Science & Medicine, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Chinese Sociological Review, Journal of Family Psychology, among others. She is a Council Member of the Population Association of Singapore for 2022-2025. Cheng received her PhD from Princeton University in Sociology with a concentration in Demography. She completed her BA (Comprehensive Honors) in Sociology with a concentration in Analysis and Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Qualifications
- PhD in Sociology, Princeton University, 2018
- MA in Sociology, Princeton University, 2015
- BA in Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2012
Research Interests
- Gender
- Family
- Ageing
- Health
- Demography
- Stratification
- Quantitative Methods
Course(s) Taught in SMU
- Gender and Family
- Research Methods in Sociology and Political Science