UMass Boston

Educational equity, community colleges, higher education policy, qualitative research

PhD, University of Southern California (Urban Education Policy)
MA, New York University (Humanities and Social Thought)
BA, Wellesley College (English Literature)

Dr. Ching's scholarship focuses on the design and implementation of equity reforms, and tackles the question of how local actors, organizational conditions, and reform design shape the way equity is defined and implemented in practice. Dr. Ching examines these topics in both two- and four-year settings, and pursues them qualitatively, using case study methods. Her work has been featured in The Review of Higher Education and Educational Policy. Her dissertation on how a community college in California makes sense of and enacts equity was awarded the 2017 Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education. 

Dr. Ching teaches courses on the history of American higher education and qualitative research methods in the higher education program.

Dr. Ching completed her PhD in Urban Education Policy at the University of Southern California, where she served as a research assistant at the Center for Urban Education. She also holds a MA in humanities and social thought from New York University and a BA in English literature from Wellesley College. 

Prior to pursuing doctoral work, Dr. Ching was a program officer at The Teagle Foundation, where she managed a college access initiative for low-income students attending New York City public schools, as well as supported grantmaking for faculty-led projects to improve undergraduate education at four-year institutions.