Assistant Professor in the College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University
About
Dr. Suarez's is interested in the intersection of race, gender identity, sexuality, and class, and how binary notions of gender permeate PK-16 STEM spaces and curricula. His intersectional research agenda broadly asks: How does our understanding of gender and sexuality shape PK-16 education (e.g., standards, curriculum, bathrooms, group placements, sports, STEM, teachers and teaching)? He tries to answer this question through a primarily critical quantitative lens using nationally representative data, though he also draws on qualitative methods when large data is not available. His research in education draws from the fields of sociology, demography, gender studies, and policy studies.
Current Work:
Dr. Suarez's intersectional research agenda looks at individual, environmental, contextual, and systemic factors that work together (or not) to (re)produce unequal educational outcomes for minoritized populations. In particular, he is interested in how these factors shape PK-16 spaces through standards, curriculum, teaching practices for LGBTQ+ and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students and teachers. To this end, he primarily employs critical quantitative research methods using secondary data analysis, though also draw on qualitative methods when large data is not available.
In Dr. Suarez's own words, "I envision these factors as metaphorical gears, some larger than s, that sometimes do not fit together and are working against each , more so for some minoritized populations over s, to create inequality in K-16 spaces. My research in education draws from fields of sociology, demography, gender studies, and policy studies, which I bring into the field of education as a major contribution."
Research Area Keyword(s):
transgender studies in education; STEM persistence; queer studies in education
