LaShawn Washington

Dr. LaShawn Faith Washington is an assistant professor of Qualitative Research at the University of Oklahoma in the Department of Educational Psychology - Science of Psychology, Data, and Research in Education program. She joined the OU faculty in August 2023. Dr. Washington earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis with an emphasis in Higher Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A Dallas, Texas native, Dr. Washington is a proud first-generation non-traditional student, community college graduate, and a two-time alumna of The University of Texas-Austin receiving an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction – Cultural Studies in Education, and a B.A. in Government (Honors).

Her overarching research explores the historical and contemporary inequities in higher education and how issues of race and gender intersect in ways that impact the experiences of Black women in academia. Her most current ethnographic research project, entitled: “Let Love Lead,” utilized Black feminist theorizing through a bell hooksian approach to examine relationships, intersectional identities, and notions of love between Black women collegians and Black women student affairs professionals at a predominately white institution. Dr. Washington has presented research at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), The National Association for Student Affairs Professionals (NASPA), and The National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE). Her most recent scholarship was published in Teachers College Record.