About
Gabriel Rodriguez is an assistant professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research and teaching are motivated by a concern for educational justice. His interdisciplinary research interests lay at the intersection of urban and suburban education, critical race studies, critical youth studies, education policy, and teacher activism. His scholarship has two areas of focus. The first centers on learning from high school youth of color’s identities, sense of belonging, and activism in demographically changing [sub]urban schools and communities. The second focuses on teachers of color in urban schools and how they advocate for educational justice and organize against market-based reforms. His qualitative research draws from anthropological and sociological perspectives.
He has published articles in journals such as Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Equity & Excellence in Education, Race Ethnicity and Education, Urban Review, the Journal of Latinos and Education, and the Berkeley Review of Education. He is the recipient of a National Academy of Education Spencer Dissertation Fellowship (2017) and most recently was an American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Faculty Fellow (2022).
Current Work
Dr. Rodriguez is currently working on a book manuscript centered on Latinx high school youth's experiences attending a predominantly white, well-resourced, and equity-oriented suburban high school to examine how inequality opportunities in "good" suburban schools. He is also working on a critical ethnographic project in suburban Des Moines. This project looks at the role a suburban high school plays in helping youth of color develop their political identities as well as how they support their activism in and out of school.
Research Area Keyword(s)
identity, Latinx education, social justice education, urban-suburban education, youth activism, belonging, race, space, and place, teacher activism, education policy