NCID-2039
Tony A. Laing
Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Education/Degree:
1 Educational Policy Studies (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
About
Dr. Tony Laing is a K-12 and higher education scholar-practitioner. He teaches and writes in the area of gender, sexuality, and youth studies. Specifically, his scholarship and publications lie at the intersection of youth studies, gender studies (constructions of masculinities), single-gender schools, queer theory, and African-American Studies. To date, Laing has secured $4MM in grants and donations for various educational initiatives/ projects.
Laing also serves as the inaugural Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is also a part of the IDEA database of practitioner experts who review diversity and inclusive proposals submitted to NASA.
Most recently, Laing served as K-12 Wayland METCO Director, providing educational opportunities for students of color to attend suburban schools. Laing has lectured and worked in diversity affairs, student affairs, study abroad, and academic advising. His work at the collegiate level centers on creating more welcoming campuses for students, faculty, and staff of color.
Laing is the author of several peer-reviewed articles and reports that center on culturally relevant education, student voice, and equity in education. He is also co-editor (with independent scholar Dr. Ezella McPherson) of the forthcoming book titled, The (in)visible student support networks at HBCUs and PWIs for Black undergraduate and graduate students.
Currently serving a second 5-year term as Trustee at Wheaton College, and a first term as Trustee at Montserrat College of Art. Laing previously served for six years as Board Chair of the Alliance for Domestic & International Educational Programs.
A graduate of Wheaton College, Laing obtained a master’s degree from New York University, a second master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Laing is a very proud member of the illustrious Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
Current Work
Tony Laing’s specific research offers insights into how contemporary issues of race and gender intersect to explain different perspectives shared by adolescent males regarding their understandings of social constructions of masculinities. His research asks questions related to identity and sexuality awareness of men of African descent in the United States. Specifically, he focus on understanding the intersecting dimensions of race, gender, sexuality and other social categories. Tony’s research has three distinct foci. First, it addresses race/ethnic struggles and institutional inequalities that negatively impact Black lives, especially the lives of young boys, and examines how they navigate different terrains where gender identities intersect. Second, Tony examine racial identification and discuss the racial conflicts that evolve. Third, Tony’s research centers on Black male college students’ reflection on the development of their masculinities over the course of their lives and explores how their perception of that growth is understood in adulthood. This latter work departures from Tony’s previous scholarship that centered on young men, as he is intending to look at masculinity through the reflections of adult Black males. Currently, Tony is working on a manuscript with Dr. Jennifer Y. Hamer at the University of Kansas and Dr. Cory Brown at Murray State University titled, “No Time for Childhood: How Black Boys in Single-sex Schools Make Meaning of Their Boyhood.” In this essay, which is under review, the authors explore how boys and alums from the same single sex Black male school understood (1) the meaning of their childhood within this space, and (2) how they perceived others expectations of them as boys and youth enrolled in this environment. The authors draw on works from scholars such as Lisa Depit (2006), Perdro Noguera (2008), Gloria Ladson Billings (2011) to discuss how manhood is viewed from a cultural lens of young Black males. They are also interested in understanding what this means for young Black males’ identity developments, many of whom are growing up in an age surrounded by restrictive, popular, and decidedly negative cultural images that portray them as thugs and gangsters (Howard 2012).
Research Area Keyword(s)
Black males, brotherhood, masculinities, schools, sexualities