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Emma Zang

@dremmazang.bsky.social
264 followers 49 following 100 posts

Associate Professor @YaleSoc @ysphbiostat @JacksonYale | Advocate for evidence-based family and health policies | Data science enthusiast

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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Remote work is not going away. But loneliness at work is real. I spoke with Science News about what we should take from the growing evidence on remote work, isolation, and mental health. The answer is not blanket return-to-office mandates. www.sciencenews.org/article/remo...
sciencenews.org
Remote workers feel isolated. Back-to-office mandates are not a fix
Making social connection part of job design, whether people work remotely, hybrid or in-person, is key to supporting employees‘ well-being.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
New piece out today in Science with @rourkeobrien.bsky.social. Remote work gave many people flexibility. It also changed how workers build everyday connection, support, mentoring, and belonging. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
The lost social infrastructure of work
Remote work has substantially increased social isolation, with measurable consequences for mental health
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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Fine, perceptive essay by @dremmazang.bsky.social on intersection of the fertility crisis and the AI revolution in China (but applies more broadly): Without reforms to improve wages, housing access, and childcare, automation could entrench a low-fertility crisis and destabilise the social contract.
scmp.com
Opinion | Why China’s AI automation push is a risky social experiment
Without reforms to improve wages, housing access and childcare, automation could entrench a low-fertility crisis and destabilise the social contract.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Hard to believe the Yale Conference on AI in the Social Sciences is happening next week. Only a couple of spots remain due to space constraints. Last chance to register: yalefds.swoogo.com/socialscienc... Looking forward to welcoming everyone to Yale!
yalefds.swoogo.com
Schedule
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Mohamed Dhia Hammami @meddhiah.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Done with #APSAVRM26. Looking forward to presenting the same paper at the @yaledatascience.bsky.social. FDS workshop on AI for social science research methods organized by @dremmazang.bsky.social, Daniel Karell, Tong Wang and @harshparikh.bsky.social. fds.yale.edu/events/fds-w...
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Excited to share that our Life-Course Cognitive Inequality Workshop now has a website! You can find the full program and event details here: sites.google.com/view/2026-ya... Registration is now open and closes on May 6. We encourage you to sign up soon and hope to see many of you at Yale.
sites.google.com
2026 Yale Cognition Workshop
About the Workshop
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Our AI in Social Science conference notifications are out—congrats to everyone who was accepted! 🎉 We have an incredible lineup of presenters across disciplines: yalefds.swoogo.com/socialscienc...
yalefds.swoogo.com
Presentations
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
In China, divorce can mean this: He keeps the house. Her unpaid work barely counts. And yet, more women are still choosing to leave. I spoke with The Economist: www.economist.com/china/2026/0...
economist.com
Soaring numbers of Chinese women demand divorce
They are defying state efforts to make it harder
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
We are still hiring!! Multiple positions open. Interviews will be on a rolling basis.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Excited that Z-CAFE will present two panels at the Yale AI Symposium: one on building a next-generation neighborhood disadvantage index using multimodal data (images + surveys), and another on using LLMs to experimentally test how data presentation shapes human and machine judgment.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
We’re hiring postdocs and predocs at Yale (ZCAFE) working on AI and social science methods.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
We’re blown away by the response to our call for submissions for the Yale AI Social Science Conference — around 170 submissions in just one month!
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
What happens when a country automates before building a stable middle class? China’s AI push is often framed as inevitable. But it may also be a risky social experiment, with consequences for inequality, fertility, and the social contract. My latest op-ed: www.scmp.com/opinion/chin...
scmp.com
Opinion | Why China’s AI automation push is a risky social experiment
Without reforms to improve wages, housing access and childcare, automation could entrench a low-fertility crisis and destabilise the social contract.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Hot take for the future of peer review: Journals should start asking for a lightweight AI-based replication check (e.g., via Claude) at submission.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Did remote work increase fertility? The answer is yes, but only for some women. Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Remote Work and Fertility in the U.S.: Who Benefits?
The rise of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic transformed how employment and family life are organized, with potential implications for fertility. Using
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Two weeks left to submit! Confirmed participants include Kosuke Imai, @5harad.com, Jeremy Freese, Siwei Cheng, Jessica Hullman, Adam Berinsky, Yiqing Xu, @jugander.bsky.social, and many others.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Another highlight: We will host a panel on publishing AI research, featuring editors from American Sociological Review, American Journal of Political Science, Management Science, and Sociological Methodology.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Call for Submissions: AI for Social Science Methodology (Yale) • Keynote: @nachristakis.bsky.social • Panel with editors of leading journals on publishing AI research • Mentoring roundtables for early-career scholars • Generous travel support Discussion-driven, high-quality research.
yalefds.swoogo.com
Home
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Yale FDS Conference on May 21-22: AI for Social Science Methodology. Registration is opening soon.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
New paper out in Demography. We revisit one of the field’s core assumptions that people remain continuously married and living with a spouse across later life and show that this pathway is no longer the dominant one.
read.dukeupress.edu
Beyond Lifelong Marriage and Spousal Coresidence: A Research Note on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Late-Life Family and Living Arrangements | Demography | Duke University Press
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
You still have 2 weeks to submit your work!
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Hope everyone is having a restful break! A reminder that you still have two full months to submit to our upcoming workshop “New Data, Methods, and Theory: Life-Course Cognitive Inequality”, to be held at Yale on May 11–12, 2026. 🗓 Submission deadline: March 1, 2026 📩 Decisions: March 9, 2026
drive.google.com
Call for Extended Abstracts.pdf
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Travel Plans in Dec and Jan: Dec 9: NYC Reducing Inequality Network (NYU) Dec 10-11: Asia Society annual meeting (NYC)
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
[Call for Extended Abstracts/Papers] New Data, Methods, and Theory: Life-Course Cognitive Inequality We are inviting submissions for the interdisciplinary conference New Data, Methods, and Theory: Life-Course Cognitive Inequality, to be held at Yale University on May 11-12, 2026.
drive.google.com
Call for Extended Abstracts.pdf
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
[Due to huge interests in this, I post it here as well] I came across this interesting demography problem on X. It looks obvious until you actually think about it. And if you ask GPT, it will not give you the correct answer!
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Thrilled to be serving on the postdoc selection committee this year! If you’re working on social applications of LLMs or causal inference using observational data, I’d love to see your application!
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
I talked about the fertility issues in China in this article: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
China Enforced Strict Population Controls for Decades. Encouraging Births Is Far Harder
A Chinese steel city has doubled down on pro-natalist policies in search of an elusive baby bump.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
See many of you next Friday!
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Had a great time at the Remote Work Conference last week! It’s been a while since I’ve attended such an intellectually stimulating and welcoming event.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Just posted a new working paper on SSRN! We pit rule-based, machine learning, and various LLM methods against each other to classify social outcomes (like gender, custody, and housing) from Chinese divorce judgments. What can human–machine disagreement teach us about validity and inference?
papers.ssrn.com
<p><b><span>From Extraction to Inference: Comparing Rule-Based, Machine Learning, and LLM Approaches for Classifying Social Outcomes in Legal Text</span></b></p>
<p><span>Legal texts encode key social outcomes, but their unstructured format, domain-specific language, and culturally embedded cues make them difficult to an
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Z-CAFÉ will soon open a new postdoctoral position. We’re looking for scholars passionate about family, health, demography, policy, and aging, broadly defined, who also bring strong statistical and computational skills.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Looking forward to the amazing Deborah Carr visiting us next Monday!
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Excited to attend this year's Remote Work Conference at Stanford (www.remoteworkconference.org)! Look forward to connecting with scholars who are interested in flexible work and those in the Stanford area!
remoteworkconference.org
2025 Conference Schedule
The Schedule
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Lately I’ve been hearing parents talk about how private equity firms are increasingly buying up daycares and nursing homes in Connecticut.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
I was recently interviewed for this thoughtful piece in The New Journal about Chinese international students navigating today’s political climate. The article captures both the courage and vulnerability of students whose education and voices are shaped by forces far beyond the classroom.
thenewjournalatyale.com
Disrupted Customs | The New Journal
Chinese international students are the foremost targets of Trump’s student visa restrictions. Now, their place at Yale and their ability to speak freely seem more precarious.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
New in American Journal of Epidemiology! doi.org/10.1093/aje/...
doi.org
Validate User
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Reposted by Emma Zang
Regina Baker @rsbaker.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Indeed, UNC-CH Sociology is hiring again! Check it out and please share. :)
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Stanford Sociology @stanfordsoc.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
We're hiring for a senior appointment at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor! Apply here: facultypositions.stanford.edu/en-us/job/49...
facultypositions.stanford.edu
Stanford | Faculty Positions: Details - Senior appointment in the Department of Sociology at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
🚨 We’re hiring! Yale Sociology is searching for a Senior Quantitative Sociologist to join our department. Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174709
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Grateful my article made “Most Popular of the Week” at Foreign Policy. A reminder that beyond wars and geopolitics, the lived experiences of ordinary people in China also resonate deeply with readers.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Excited to share that my lab’s new website (zcafe.net) is live! We’re building Z-CAFÉ to study health, family, and inequality in a changing world, using data science tools. The site is the place to watch for upcoming openings (pre-docs, postdocs, RAs). Check it out and stay tuned!
zcafe.net
Z-CAFE Lab - Home
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
China’s birthrate is plunging, but this isn’t just a demographic crisis. It’s a crisis of faith in the future. Why many young Chinese no longer believe in marriage, parenthood, or long-term planning — My new op-ed in Foreign Policy & ChinaFile: chinafile.com/reporting-op...
chinafile.com
China’s Birth Crisis Is a Crisis of Faith in the Future
In recent years, the government has offered tax breaks, housing incentives, and fertility treatment coverage to encourage family formation. But these measures are unlikely to work. China’s birth rate has fallen from 2.5 births per woman in 1990 to just 1 birth per woman in 2023. The country’s declining birth rate is not only an economic problem but a cultural one. For many young people, the real barrier is not the cost of raising children. Rather, it is the conviction that parenthood no longer makes sense in a future that feels uncertain and unworthy of investment. Unless policies address this deeper malaise, subsidies and bonuses will do little to stem the decline.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
New Yale study: Sex-selective abortion bans don’t change sex ratios—but they do harm health. Among Asian immigrant mothers, bans increased low birth weight + preterm births. (news.yale.edu/2025/08/29/s...)
news.yale.edu
Study: Sex-selective abortion bans harm maternal and infant health
A new study by Yale sociologist Emma Zang links sex-selective abortion bans to negative birth outcomes for Asian immigrant mothers.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
The Yale Population Studies Workshop is live! Check out our fall lineup here: isps.yale.edu/population-s... Speakers span sociology, economics, medicine, and political science. Both Yale and non-Yale folks are welcome to sign up for the email listserv!
isps.yale.edu
Population Studies Workshop | Institution for Social and Policy Studies
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
China just rolled out a new childcare subsidy to tackle its record-low birth rate. I spoke with CNN about what this means—and why cash alone might not be enough. edition.cnn.com/2025/08/05/c...
edition.cnn.com
China used to fine couples for having too many babies. Now it can’t pay them enough | CNN
Pessimistic about the future, young people in China don’t want to have children – a growing trend that worries the government as it tries to avert a population crisis of its own making.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
I'm happy to share that I've joined the Asia Society Policy Institute as a Fellow. Looking forward to engaging more with policy issues related to China and working alongside others who care about bridging research and policy. Grateful for the opportunity to learn, contribute, and grow in this space.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
I was interviewed for this Reuters piece on China’s new national childcare subsidy and its potential impact on fertility. I emphasized that while financial support is welcome, real change requires long-term investments in childcare, gender equity, and family security. www.reuters.com/markets/emer...
reuters.com
China unveils childcare subsidies in push to boost fertility
China rolled out on Monday an annual childcare subsidy of 3,600 yuan (about $500) until age three, as authorities look to spur a flagging birth rate with fewer young people choosing to have children.
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Just spoke on CGTN about China’s new national childcare subsidy (¥3,600 per child/year). A big policy shift, but research shows cash alone won’t reverse low fertility. Real change requires affordable childcare, gender equity, and long-term security. youtu.be/zAfyU-R1I24?...
youtu.be
Childcare Subsidy a Good Start, But Not Enough, Says Yale Professor
YouTube video by CGTN Europe
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Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
New paper! What happens when abortion laws are driven by xenophobic stereotypes? @ispsyale.bsky.social @scholars.org
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Scholars Strategy Network @scholars.org · 12/05/2025
Siblings can play a crucial role in each others development. Research by @dremmazang.bsky.social found that younger siblings tend to benefit from an older child's educational opportunities. Learn more about Zang's research in this @nytimes.com piece by @susandominus.bsky.social. ⤵️ #EdPolicy
nytimes.com
The Surprising Ways That Siblings Shape Our Lives
Parents try everything to influence their children. But new research suggests brothers and sisters have their own profound impact.
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