James Earl Davis

James Earl Davis is the Bernard C. Watson Chair in Urban Education at Temple University and Professor of Higher Education in the College of Education and Human Development. He also holds affiliate faculty appointments in the Department of Africology and African American Studies and the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program. With an explicit concern for gender equity in education, his research has provided new insights into how social contexts of education inform racial and gender experiences and expressions, especially for Black boys and emerging adult men. More specifically, his work has investigated the construction of gender identity and its ties to engagement and performance at different education levels, from early learning to higher education. Davis’s current research focuses on gender-based education policy and reform; social stratification and urban neighborhood-university relations; and the intersection of schooling options and housing inequality. His work has been funded by varies agencies including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, Spencer Foundation, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. With research publications in numerous academic journals, books, and edited volumes, Professor Davis has sought to generate, leverage and trouble the field’s understanding of education pathways, the confluence of gender and race, and how broader contexts inform postsecondary possibilities. A former National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow and a Fulbright-Hays Scholar, his scholarly work and professional contributions have been honored with the Warrior Award-International Colloquium on Black Males in Education, Distinguished Research Career Award-Center for Research and Mentoring of Black Male Students and Teachers, ASHE Distinguished Mentor Award, AERA's Distinguished Contributions to Gender Equity in Education Research Award and AERA Fellow.