Julie Posselt

Associate Professor of Education

PhD, Higher Education, University of Michigan

Contact

posselt@usc.edu

Expertise

Holistic graduate admissions | STEM equity and inclusion | Mental health in higher education

Links

Twitter
Hi-res photo

Julie Posselt is an associate professor of higher education in the USC Rossier School of Education and was a 2015-2017 National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation postdoctoral research fellow. Rooted in sociological and organizational theory, her research program examines institutionalized inequalities in higher education and organizational efforts aimed at reducing inequities and encouraging diversity. She focuses on selective sectors of higher education— graduate education, STEM fields, and elite undergraduate institutions—where longstanding practices and cultural norms are being negotiated to better identify talent and educate students in a changing society.

Extended bio and CV at USC Rossier

Projects

Equity in Graduate Education

As project lead, Posselt and her team studies how to improve equity and diversity among students and faculty at the graduate school level through holistic graduate admissions practices, professional development, and institutional change.

As a co-princial investigator on the National Science Foundation-funded FIELD project, Posselt and her team are conducting ethnographic research of field-based experiences at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her work will be used to inform the design of a leadership institute for geoscientists who facilitate field-based experiences.

As a co-principal investigator of the ASPIRE project, Posselt and her team are leading a longitudinal, narrative inquiry into the work & careers of scientists who conduct place-based, community-based science. Such work is aimed broadening participation by eroding boundaries between social and scientific dimensions of pressing problems, and thus rebranding scientific inquiry as more relevant to the interests of historically underrepresented groups.

Books

Equity in Science: Representation, Culture, and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education
Stanford University Press, September 2020
Buy now: Amazon | Stanford UP

STEM disciplines are believed to be founded on the idea of meritocracy; recognition earned by the value of the data, which is objective. Such disciplinary cultures resist concerns about implicit or structural biases, and yet, year after year, scientists observe persistent gender and racial inequalities in their labs, departments, and programs.

Higher Education Administration for Social Justice and Equity empowers all administrators in higher education to engage in their work―to make decisions, hire, mentor, budget, create plans, and carry out other day-to-day operations―with a clear commitment to justice, sensitivity to power and privilege, and capacity to facilitate equitable outcomes.

How does graduate admissions work? Who does the system work for, and who falls through its cracks? More people than ever seek graduate degrees, but little has been written about who gets in and why. Drawing on firsthand observations of admission committees and interviews with faculty in 10 top-ranked doctoral programs in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, education professor Julie Posselt pulls back the curtain on a process usually conducted in secret.

Recent articles and publications at USC Rossier

Latest News

More news about Julie Posselt

Recent Media

The Conversation
March 15, 2019
Why meritocracy is a myth in college admissions

Inside Higher Ed
March 15, 2019
The Admissions Scandal and a Service for Ph.D.s

Nature
February 21, 2019
Astronomy society pushes for diversity in US PhD programmes

Chronicle of Higher Education
January 31, 2019
Lawyers on Race-Conscious Admissions: ‘This Is Doable. But Also, Do It Right.’

Inside Higher Ed
September 17, 2018
Renewed Debate About GRE

Inside Higher Ed
May 7, 2018
It’s Time for the Talk