His research focus is the intersection among Education Policy, Sociology of Education, Higher Education, and Quantitative Social Science. He is especially interested in how these fields interact to shape educational outcomes and systems. His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include Global Challenges in Science and Technology and Contemporary Chinese Societies.

Zhou is an expert in East Asian education systems, with a particular geographic focus on China. His research spans multiple topics within education, including the influence of family on learning behaviors, the supply of public education, teaching as a profession, and dynamics within Chinese universities. A cross-cultural knowledge practitioner, Zhou has translated multiple scholarly works into Chinese, including three books published by Beijing Normal University Press, bridging international social science scholarship with Chinese academic discourse. He has published articles in academic journals including Higher Education, International Journal of Educational Development, Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, and Chinese Sociological Review.

Zhou has a B.Sc. in Statistics from East China Normal University (2005) and a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Michigan State University (2012). He is a visiting fellow at the University of Chicago. Before joining Duke Kunshan University, he was an Associate Professor of Education Policy and Sociology at the University of Macau.