Biography
Dr. Mike Hoa Nguyen is assistant professor of education at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. His research and teaching critically examines the benefits and consequences of racialized public policy instruments in expanding and/or constraining educational systems, with a specific focus on how these dynamics shape access, learning, opportunity, and success within and beyond schools for students of color.
Dr. Nguyen aims to better articulate how race-conscious federal policy can reach its potential, and fulfill its promise to address pervasive educational inequalities for underserved and underrepresented populations and regions within the United States. He is the principal investigator of the Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) Data Project, a research and resource initiative with the mission to advance greater understanding of MSIs and their unique contributions to postsecondary education. His work has been supported by organizations such as The Kresge Foundation and published in several outlets including Educational Researcher, the Journal of Higher Education, and the Review of Higher Education.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Nguyen has extensive professional experience in federal government, having served as a senior staff member in the United States Congress. In his nearly seven years on staff, Dr. Nguyen managed a wide-ranging portfolio and was responsible for multiple complex, long-term intergovernmental projects and initiatives focusing on postsecondary education and the judiciary. Before federal service, Dr. Nguyen was a program associate at De Anza College, where he mentored students, developed new curriculum, and lectured.
Dr. Nguyen is deeply committed to applying his research to inform and advance public policy and institutional practice. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) and continues to volunteer and provide research consulting for education and civil rights organizations. Most recently, he was one of the lead authors of amicus curiae briefs on behalf of social scientists in SFFA v. Harvard, which was discussed during oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court and cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in their opinion to uphold affirmative action.
Prior to NYU, he was an assistant professor at the University of Denver and was appointed by the Governor of Colorado to the History, Culture, Social Contributions, and Civil Government in Education Commission and by the Mayor of Denver to the Denver Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and his graduate education at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Articles, Publications, and Appearances
Link to my Google Scholar with my publications:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=va4sjXMAAAAJ&hl=en
Media Interviews:
https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/news/aanhpi-communities-advocate-for-more-inclusive-social-studies-curriculum/
https://www.9news.com/article/news/education/asian-american-pacific-islander-native-hawaiian-history-left-out-of-k-12-education-standards/73-b6791824-d817-4fbb-9176-69f5f29ff615
https://www.diverseeducation.com/institutions/msis/article/15291994/the-struggle-for-dual-identity-msi-grant-restrictions-and-the-aapi-community
https://www.wuwm.com/2021-08-26/exploring-the-parallels-between-the-southeast-asian-refugee-crisis-and-the-current-situation-in-afghanistan
https://www.diverseeducation.com/demographics/asian-american-pacific-islander/article/15294438/higher-education-has-important-role-to-play-in-stopping-aapi-hate
https://www.diverseeducation.com/leadership-policy/article/15301546/as-supreme-court-prepares-for-affirmative-action-cases-experts-analyze-whats-coming
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/10/28/sffa-arguments-change/
https://www.9news.com/article/news/community/voices-of-change/asian-pacific-islander-american-model-minority-myth/73-40f9913f-4d4a-4e4a-a3d6-8b859dc9a58b
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/03/opinion/social-studies-asian-americans-affirmative-action-covid-frontier-gender-roles/
https://www.voanews.com/a/student-union_study-asian-americans-dont-suffer-admissions-rejection/6195739.html
https://nextshark.com/asian-americans-first-choice-university-study
Study finds no harm to Asian American students who don’t get 1st choice of college
https://www.diverseeducation.com/demographics/asian-american-pacific-islander/article/15107620/study-finds-evidence-that-counters-legal-complaints-filed-against-yale-and-harvard
https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/08/31/study-asian-students-who-dont-get-first-choice-college-end-doing-well
https://www.crushingthemyth.com/p/590250_-re-sent-twc-8-30-20?s=r