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Mr Marshall Jen is the Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies at The Education University of Hong Kong. He is a seasoned entrepreneur as well as a scholarly practitioner. He founded his first company during the final year of his undergraduate studies in Canada, and successfully exited the business before returning to Hong Kong. After returning to Hong Kong, he established a consulting firm specialising in succession planning and family office talent development. He also served as the Executive Director of the CUHK’s Centre for Family Business. 

Besides founding businesses and conducting research, he teaches at our department and other tertiary institutions. He often uses his spare time to organise various activities for students, helping them to build extensive social networks. Marshall shares his experiences and reflections on teaching at this department. 

Question 1: Why do you remain passionate about teaching after establishing your own business? 
Answer 1: During my teaching experience, I found that students have limited exposure to the outside world, and their thinking and perspectives need broadening. As a teacher, I intend to expand their horizons. Through the courses in the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Social Entrepreneurship and Development Studies (BSocSc(SEDS)), I grow alongside the students, encouraging a shift in their thinking modes to help them not only prepare for future entrepreneurship but also solve various challenges they face in life. Once students learn to handle these challenges, they will be better equipped to face the future independently. The entrepreneurial journey is full of trials and tests one’s values, so as entrepreneurs, one must uphold their principles. I taught design thinking in class, a people-centred approach to problem-solving, aiming to enhance students’ empathy, problem identification, and confidence. Through repeated attempts and learning from failures, students gradually build their confidence. 

One of my students asked me, “any event made you feel the proudest and most successful?” Frankly, this cannot be answered by a single event. Teaching is like playing chess; I am the one uncovering and securing scarce resources behind the scenes while students need to seize opportunities to broaden their horizons. For example, I introduced the concept of Public-Private Partnership in one of my course, and in late October, I led the Year 1 BSocSc(SEDS) students to participate in an event organised by the Kowloon City District Office. Although the attendance was voluntary, nearly 90% of the students participated enthusiastically. After the event, many students stayed behind to interact with guests, such as Mr Gary Yeung, the President of Smart City Consortium. These valuable experiences enriched the students’ theoretical and practical understanding when they returned to class. I hope they can leverage these network in the future. 

Throughout my teaching career, I have also led students to dialogue with executives from various industries, such as senior management in PCCW, to learn about decision-making processes firsthand. I actively assist the department in establishing connections with distinguished persons across sectors, such as Ms Gilly Wong Fung-han, the former chief executive of Consumer Council, and Mr Mahesh Harilela, Family Council Convenor of Harilela Group Ltd., who recently engaged with our students on campus. These are previous experiences. 

Question 2: You teach in this department and at various tertiary institutions. Are there differences at the EdUHK when compared to other institutions? 
Answer 2: I deeply appreciate the team of BSocSc(SEDS) programme. Compared to other institutions, this programme has a strong collegial culture, and it will support its students in order to create a positive learning environment. Students at the EdUHK generally exhibit the resilient and hardworking “spirit of Hong Kong”, which is impressive and full of potential. Some graduates of the program have maintained contact and have even become colleagues.

Students are proactively seizing opportunities to participate in various competitions both inside and outside the university. Over the past years, I have guided many students in competitions, assisting their participation in entrepreneurship competitions in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. Recently, one student successfully entered the university’s Education+ and Social Entrepreneurs (EASE) Fund Scheme and was awarded a seed fund of HK$600,000, a notable achievement. 

This academic year, as the capstone project coordinator, I embedded the Hong Kong’s largest social enterprise startup competition – the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge, as part of their capstone project. During the process, I matched students with practitioners from various fields, allowing them to enhance the quality of their project preparation by learning from these mentors’ first-hand experiences. 

The Master of Arts in Personal Finance Education (MA (PFE)) programme has been honoured with the 2025 Greater Bay Area Master Programme Excellence Model Award.

The Award was given for the programme’s excellence in academic quality and its significant contribution to talent development and regional collaboration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

MA(PFE) Programme was honoured with the “2025 Greater Bay Area Master Program Excellence Model Award”

The judging panel commended the innovative positioning of EdUHK’s MA (PFE) programme. As the first financial master's programme in the GBA to integrate wealth management and financial planning, the programme aligns with Hong Kong's strategic development as an international hub for wealth management and green finance. Centred on personal and household finance, the curriculum encompasses three frontier fields of wealth management, green finance, and financial planning.

The panel also recognised MA(PFE)’s achievements in practice-based teaching and learning, industry collaboration, social responsibility and community engagement, and international collaboration.

Dr Tan Weiqiang, Programme Leader of MA(PFE) attends the Award Ceremony

Dr Tan Weiqiang, Programme Leader of MA (PFE), remarked, “This award affirms the accomplishments of the University and the programme, and inspires us to continue advancing financial education in alignment with GBA development, talent cultivation, and global financial trends.” He added that, to closely attune to the latest financial development initiatives, MA(PFE) Programme introduced new modules in the 2025/26 academic year, such as Family Office Management, Islamic Finance. The launch of the new modules would further broadens students’ international perspectives and industrial horizons.

Source: EdUHK's MA(PFE) Wins Programme Excellence Award

On 14th November, 2025 Professor Stephen Chiu delivered a public lecture at the Admiralty campus of HKUSPACE.  Entitled “From Private Troubles to Public Issues: A Sociologist's Journey Through Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong”, the lecture attracted about 60 social science students, in which he recounted his own research journey on the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. Through the sharing, he illustrated how we could all exercise sociological imagination by linking up private troubles to public issues by locating social phenomenon in the intersection of individual biography, social structure and history.  After the lecture, he also introduced Senior Year Entry programmes offered by the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies.

To enrich students' exposure to Chinese material culture and art appreciation, Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Sociology and Community Studies and Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Primary Humanities) Programme organized a visit to the exhibition "Tang Vogue Beyond the Horizons: A Golden Era of Multicultural Integration and Openness" at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Center on 24 November 2025.

“Business Innovation & Go” (the Team, 企創衝衝衝 in Chinese), the student team from the Master of Arts in Personal Finance Education Programme (MA(PFE)) at EdUHK proudly secured the First Prize at the "Third National Graduate Business Management Innovation Competition of China – Business Decision Track" (the Competition). The team is the only team from the tertiary institutions in Hong Kong to advance to the national finals. This achievement showcases EdUHK’s success in developing innovative business talents and highlights the students’ expertise in both personal financial planning and corporate management.

Event Overview: A Premier National Arena for Business Competition

The Competition is organised under the guidance of the Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education of China. It is jointly organised by the Association of Chinese Graduate Education of China (ACGE) and the Children & Youth Science Centre of CAST, with co-hosting by the China National MBA Education Supervisory Committee. This year’s competition attracted 4,176 teams from 321 graduate institutions nationwide, involving over 18,000 participants, making it a large-scale and highly competitive national business contest.

The finals were held on November 8 in Guiyang, China, where EdUHK students demonstrated exceptional decision-making skills in a corporate management simulation. Despite fierce competition, they responded effectively to simulated challenges, earning the top honours.

In addition to the awarded team, two other student teams from the Personal Finance programme participated in the preliminary rounds, demonstrating their diligent preparation and commitment.

Holistic Personal Growth during the Competition Preparation

The members of the student team dedicated extensive time to case analysis, financial modelling, workshops, and simulation exercises. they improved their decision-making, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities. Their success reflects both rigorous training and practical application of their academic knowledge.

Mr Yang Shanglin, the team leader of “Business Innovation & Go” reflected, “Our victory owes to the hard work of my teammates and the support from our Personal Finance Programme. During the preparations, our Programme organised several preparation workshops for us. We also learn a great deal from our mentors during the training. This experience has been invaluable.”

The participating student teams are attending the preparation workshops during the preliminary stage and learning the skills for business analysis and decision making.

MA(PFE) Micro credential modules on business simulation enhances students’ proficiency in business decision making.
 

It is noteworthy that MA(PFE) Programme launched a “Micro Credential Module” in the 2025/26 year, including a key component of “Corporate Strategic Decision-Making Simulation Training”. This module aligns closely with the competition’s theme of “Business Decision-Making”, providing students with additional support for their preparation. Furthermore, it emphasizes data-driven decision-making, which will prepare students for real-world business environments.

Future Outlook: Empowering the Future Talents through Practice-based Learning

This achievement demonstrates the Personal Finance students’ ability to tackle complex business problems and adapt to dynamic markets. EdUHK’s personal finance programmes remain committed to inspiring students to challenge themselves, innovate, and excel in their future careers in business, and will continue to encourage students’ intensive participation in business practice and experiential learning.

The 12th Fieldwork Report Competition for Secondary Schools 2025–2026, co-organized by the SSPS Department and the Caritas Chan Chun Ha Field Studies Centre (CCCHFSC), has begun! Two workshops were held on 2 November and 16 November, 2025. We look forward to students participating in field study!