About

This bio was current as of 2021, when she was part of the on-campus Kellogg community.

Xueheng (Attina) Zhang is a senior Kellogg International Scholar who is majoring in sociology and applied and computational mathematics and statistics. She is interested in researching education inequality in the US and China and how their unique social landscapes shaped the situations respectively. Zhang is currently working with the director of the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society Professor Nitesh Chawla in leveraging advanced data analyses to infer risk factors impacting child health in Mexico as well as uncovering actionable intervention strategies.  She is also working with Professor Susan Blum from the Department of Anthropology to collect people’s experiences learning inside and outside of school at all levels in a variety of international settings, with the goal to better understand the contemporary phenomenology of socialization.

During the summer of 2017, she received an Experiencing the World Fellowship to investigate the landscape of hope, wellbeing, and health in an underserved urban community in Quito, Ecuador, and to advise the local non-governmental organization on how to incorporate mental guidance and raise nutrition awareness in their day-to-day volunteering.

Adviser
Nitesh Chawla
Major(s)
Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics
Sociology
Current Research

Research Interests
I am interested in researching education inequality in the US and China, and how their unique social landscapes shaped the situations respectively.

Current Research
Currently, I am working with Professor Blum from Department of Anthropology to collect people’s experiences learning inside and outside of school at all levels in a variety of international settings, with the goal to better understand the contemporary phenomenology of socialization.