Gang Li, PhD
Dr. Li was born and raised in the People's Republic of China. He received his BA in English at Yantai University, China in 2002. Then he worked as an English teacher at Beijing New Oriental School for five years. From 2007 to 2008, Gang attended Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, completing an MSc in Education with distinction as a Chevening Scholar. In 2020, he received his PhD in Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada.
Dr. Li's fields of interest include leadership, governance, integration of faith and learning, and international higher education. He is particularly interested in reimagining leadership studies from the perspective of a Christian worldview particularly by reconceptualizing the notion and practices of leadership within the biblical metanarrative.
At the moment, Dr. Li is collaborating with other scholars in the China Innovative Urban-rural Governance Research Network (https://ciurgpolyu.wixsite.com/home) to advance conceptual bases of community leadership in rural China through case study research.
Dr. Li is the serving member of the International Leadership Association's Committee for the Advancement of Leadership Programs (https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/about/advancement-of-leadership-programs/). This committee oversees, advances, and supports leadership learning and program development globally.
- PhD in Educational Studies (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada)
- MSc in Education with Distinction (Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom)
- BA in English (Yantai University, Yantai, China)
Expertise
Leadership, International Higher Education, Democracy, Governance, Subjectivity, Case Study Research
Dr. Li frequently shares his research ideas at international conferences. Below is a list of his selected conference presentations:
- Li, G., & Zhang, Z. H. (2025, October). The integration of peace education with leadership education in higher education institutions: A scoping review. Paper presented at the 27th International Leadership Association (ILA) global conference, Prague, Czechia.
- Li, G., & Zhang, Z. H. (2024, July). Reimagining leadership education from the perspective of peace. A roundtable session hosted at the 34th annual conference of Association of Leadership Educators, Minneapolis, the United States.
- Li, G. (2024, June). The sacred in leadership studies: A scoping review. Paper presented at International Leadership Association (ILA) Philosophy, Religion, & Worldview Hybrid Conference - “Exploring the sacred”.
- Li, G. (2021, April). Chinese international students’ engagement with large-scale democracy in the United States. Paper presented at the 65th annual conference of Comparative and International Education Society that was held virtually.
- Li, G. (2019, April). Reimaging Chinese globally mobile students: Political subjects in the making. Paper presented at the 63rd annual conference of Comparative and International Education Society, San Francisco, United States.
- Li, G. (2016, July). Shaping Chinese citizens in the United States: A case study of Chinese students’ international education experience from a political perspective. Paper presented at the 9th International Conference of the International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas, Vancouver, Canada.
- Li, G. (2015, March). Mapping the interplay between Canada’s International Education Strategy and Chinese students: A governmentality perspective. Paper presented at the 59th annual conference of Comparative and International Education Society, Washington D.C., United States.
- Li, G. (2014, December). Overseas Mainland Chinese students' engagement with democratic discourses and practices in Canada and the United States. Doctoral research presented at the international conference "China in the Global Academic Landscapes. New Horizons: Topical and Structural Challenges for 2020", Volkswagen Foundation, Hannover, Germany.
- Li, G. (2014, June). Metaphor matters: Studying Chinese political culture from the perspective of conceptual metaphors. Paper presented at the annual conference of Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast, Bellingham, WA, United States.
- Li, G. (2013, May). Qualitative research on China's democratization in the context of neoliberal international higher education. Paper presented at the 9th International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Champaign-Urbana, IL, United States.
Awards & Honours
- UBC Four-Year Doctoral Fellowship, 2010-2014
- UK Government Chevening Scholarship, 2007-2008
Recent Publications
- Li, G., & Zhang, Z. H. (in press). Learning worldviews: Pathways to peace dwelling through stories, dialogues, and in-between spaces. In S. Amaladas, W. McIntyre Miller, E. Schellhammer, & L. W. Watson (Eds.), Peace leadership: Visions for peace dwelling. Routledge.
- Li, G., & Zhang, Z. H. (in press). Synergizing digital and peace literacies: An integrative framework for digital peace leadership in higher education. In J. Jameson & N. Rumyantseva (Eds.), Digital leadership in higher education: An Edward Elgar handbook in education. Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Li, G. (2024). “To see if the experiment with institutionalizing democratic rules would work”: Chinese international students’ engagement with democracy in U.S. higher education institutions. In C. Rose-Redwood & R. Rose-Redwood (Eds.), International student activism and the politics of higher education (pp. 117-132). Lexington Books.
- Li, G. (2020). Reimaging Chinese globally mobile students: Political subjects in the making. In U. Gaulee, S. Sharma, & K. Bista (Eds.), Rethinking education across borders: Issues and insights on globally mobile students (pp. 141-153). Springer. https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=id4awLEAAAAJ&citation_for_view=id4awLEAAAAJ:W7OEmFMy1HYC
- Li, G. (2016). Politically sensitive Chinese students' engagement with democracy in Canada: A case study. Journal of Chinese Overseas, 12(1), 96-121. https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=id4awLEAAAAJ&citation_for_view=id4awLEAAAAJ:u5HHmVD_uO8C
- Ruitenberg, C., Knowlton, A. & Li, G. (2016). The productive difficulty of untranslatables in qualitative research. Language and Intercultural Communication, 16(4), 610-626. https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=id4awLEAAAAJ&citation_for_view=id4awLEAAAAJ:u-x6o8ySG0sC
Affiliations & Memberships
- Collaborator, China Innovative Urban-Rural Governance Research Network
- Member, International Leadership Association
- Member, Association of Leadership Educators
- LDRS 300 Leadership as Service
- LDRS 302 Historical Concepts and Theories of Leadership
- LDRS 320 Ethical Decision-Making
- LDRS 330 Leadership in Organizations and Small Groups
- LDRS 410 Communication: Methods of Persuasion and Positive Influence
- LDRS 490 Leading in the World
- LDRS 501 Strategic Leadership
- LDRS 502 Team Leadership and Conflict Resolution
- LDRS 503 Results Based Leadership
- LDRS 504 Leadership Values and Ethics
- LDRS 591 Scholarly Inquiry
- LDRS 611 Organizational Behaviour
- LDRS 620 Worldview Foundations of Educational Leadership
- LDRS 697/698 Leadership Integration Project