Brains and beauty: striking PhD student at top Chinese university smashes stereotypes by landing top

A top Chinese university graduate and prospective artificial intelligence PhD student has won a Chinese stage of the 72nd Miss World Beauty Pageant, proving that intelligence and beauty can go together.

Hong Haoyun, 24, was admitted by Tsinghua University – one of China’s top two universities – in 2017.

She was the only female student in a cohort of 20 people majoring in mechanical engineering, a discipline from which she later transferred to computer science.

Along with her profound academic aptitude, Hong exudes elegance and stands at an impressive 180cm tall.

Her choice to perform “Myself” – the English version of the theme song to the movie Mulan – in the talent show, marked her out from the other 107 contestants.

She said she wanted to break people’s prejudice against women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) by demonstrating a confident, healthy and graceful image.

This summer the beauty queen will embark on a PhD in artificial intelligence, specialising in machine learning at Tsinghua University.

However, she has faced criticism from those who argue that her participation in a beauty pageant contradicts her professional pursuits and academic endeavours.

In response, she said: “I believe that valuable scientific research stems not only from solid theoretical knowledge but also from life experiences. That’s exactly what this competition provides me with.

“I don’t care what others say about how a research scientist should be or how a girl should be. I believe that as long as each of us follows our own path and bravely walks towards the person we want to be, that is all that matters.”

A similar story surfaced on Chinese social media before.

In March 2022, Zhu Wenting, a young and stunning PhD student studying mathematics at Oxford University, known by online alias @katekateZhuZhu, came to public attention when she told her story of giving up a lucrative career in investment banking and returning to academia.

Of the beauty and brains equation, one online observer said: “Some people believe that female science researchers should be unkempt, nerdy and have no hobbies while they perceive beauty pageants as a superficial pursuit only based on physical appearance. When will such bias be eliminated?”

Another said: “Talent and beauty can definitely coexist in women, and of course, women can also defy the conventional standards of beauty. Women can appear in various forms, they are all amazing!”

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