Rachelle Winkle-Wagner, Ph.D
Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
Research
One of the most formidable challenges continuing to face our society is widespread educational inequality. Disparities across race, class, and gender pervade educational institutions up to and through higher education. Aiming to uncover and provide solutions for educational inequalities, my research focuses on the overarching question: How do underrepresented students (students of color) survive and thrive in their pathways to and through college?
My inquiry centers on three domains of inquiry:
(1) access: how policies, public discourse, and students’ agency create or hinder higher education participation;
(2) success: how student-defined success relates to mainstream criteria for success (i.e., graduation); and
(3) methodological approaches to study underrepresented students in higher education: how to best conduct and analyze research related to students of color in college