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Mitchell L. Stevens

Photo of Mitchell L. Stevens

Mitchell L. Stevens

Professor

mitchell.stevens@stanford.edu

https://pathwayslab.stanford.edu/

Assistant: Monica Tabayoyong

Office: Littlefield 380

Biography

I am an organizational sociologist with longstanding interests in educational sequences, lifelong learning, alternative educational forms, and the formal organization of knowledge. With John Mitchell, I co-direct the Stanford Pathways Lab (pathwayslab.stanford.edu).

Other Titles

Professor, Graduate School of Education
Professor (By courtesy), Sociology
Faculty Affiliate, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)

Program Affiliations

SHIPS (PhD): Education Data Science
SHIPS (PhD): Educational Policy
SHIPS (PhD): Higher Education
SHIPS (PhD): Organization Studies
SHIPS (PhD): Social Sciences in Education
SHIPS (PhD): Sociology of Education
(MA) ICE/IEPA
(MA) POLS
(MA) MA/MBA
(MS) EDS
Stanford Accelerator for Learning

Research Interests

Alternative Schooling | Educational Policy | Higher Education | Leadership and Organization | Lifelong Learning

See a full list of GSE Faculty research interests >

Recent Publications

Kizilcec, R. F., Baker, R. B., Bruch, E., Cortes, K. E., Hamilton, L. T., Lang, D. N., … Stevens, M. L. (2023). From pipelines to pathways in the study of academic progress. Science (New York, N.Y.), 380(6643), 344–347.

Lang, D., Wang, A., Dalal, N., Paepcke, A., & Stevens, M. L. (2022). Forecasting Undergraduate Majors: A Natural Language Approach. AERA OPEN, 8.

Gebre-Medhin, B., Giebel, S., Alvero, A. J., Antonio, A. L., Domingue, B. W., & Stevens, M. L. (2022). Application essays and the ritual production of merit in US selective admissions. POETICS, 94.

Mitchell L. Stevens in the News & Media

For most college students, affirmative action was never enough
An op-ed coauthored by Professor Mitchell Stevens argues that improving the institutions most students attend will do more than affirmative action policies to bring racial equity in higher education.
July 3, 2023
Photo of Dan Schwartz speaking at ASU+GSV
April 21, 2023
Research Stories
Takeaways from Stanford scholars at ASU+GSV
Being honest about their histories can help universities regain trust
GSE faculty members Ari Kelman, Emily Levine, and Mitchell Stevens argue that universities can engender renewed public trust by acknowledging errors of the past.
October 12, 2022
Photo of adult learners in a classroom
August 25, 2021
Research Stories
Creating new opportunities for working learners
Inconvenient facts for the war on testing
Stanford-led research finds that college application essay content is strongly related to household income and SAT scores.
April 4, 2021
Proposal for new federal education credit and accountability system
Professor Mitchell Stevens puts forward a proposal for two new U.S. government programs to bridge the divide between higher education and the workforce system.
October 13, 2020
The pandemic has parents fleeing from schools—maybe forever
Professor Mitchell Stevens discusses why parents might see traditional schooling as risky.
September 13, 2020
Vanity Fair
Professor Mitchell Stevens considers the pandemic's long-term impact on colleges and universities.
Professor Mitchell Stevens considers the pandemic's long-term impact on colleges and universities.
July 8, 2020
‘How would I lecture with a mask on?’ Bay Area professors weigh risk of returning to classroom
Professor Mitchell Stevens talks about the uncertainties facing colleges in re-opening during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 15, 2020
With Cal State and other colleges moving online, higher ed has to prove its value
Treating online and in-person instruction as essentially equal puts residential universities in an awkward position, says Associate Professor Mitchell Stevens.
May 17, 2020
August 8, 2018
Podcast
Oh! The choices you’ll make

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