Adrian H. Huerta

American Sociological Association (ASA) Sociology of Education – Anna Julia Copper Early Career Award, 2024 (co-winner)

USC Rossier School of Education, Excellence in Research Award, 2023

Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Early Career Award, 2022

National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-2024

ACPA Men and Masculinities Outstanding Research Award, 2022

Health Equity Fellow in Training (HEFT), Health Affairs, 2021-2022

Visiting Scholar, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education (Spring 2020 – COVID-19)
Emerging Poverty Scholar, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Poverty-Scholar-in-Residence, West Coast Poverty Center, University of Washington;
Diversity Scholar, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan;
HEOC Faculty Award, UCLAA;
Minority Dissertation Fellow, American Educational Research Association (AERA)

EDUC 661: Equity in College and Career Access (Fall 2019)

EDUC 651: Introduction to Qualitative Methods (Summer 2020; Fall 2020; Summer 2022)

EDUC 658: School-to-Prison Nexus (Fall 2021)

Publications

• Huerta, A.H. (in press). Hoped-for selves: Using possible selves to explore the career and college-going aspirations of gang-involved Latino boys. The Review of Higher Education.
• Huerta, A. H., & Lopez, E. F. (in press). Pathways and supports to higher education: Reflections of college knowledge development for first- and second-generation Latino men. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
• Huerta, A. H., & Salazar, M. E. (in press). Examining how continuation schools engage in criminalizing practices against Latino boys and limiting future opportunities. Educational Administration Quarterly.
• Lopez, E. F., Huerta, A. H., Torres, G. M., Jaramillo Castillo, A., & Salazar, M. E. (in press). Mentorship and outreach: Exploring students’ feedback to improve men of color retention programs. Innovative Higher Education.
• Huerta, A. H., Muñoz, M., De La Torre-Iniguez, S., & Ibarra-Virgen, J. (2024). Using evidence-based design to support gang-impacted students in an urban community college: Lessons from the Phoenix Scholars Program. New Directions for Higher Education, 2024(208), 25-32. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20518. (Practitioner journal).
• Cesar-Davis, N. M., Huerta, A. H., Graves, D. L., Rios-Aguilar, C. & Deil-Amen, R. (2024). Processing the poor: A case study of the financial aid ecosystem for community college students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 48(2), 126-130.
• Huerta, A. H. (2024). Linking education and criminology research to understand the schooling experiences of gang youth and adults. In J. Leverso, D. Pyrooz, & J. Densley. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Gangs and Society (pp. 573-593). Oxford University Press.
• Huerta, A. H., Salazar, M. E., & Dizon, J. P. M. (2024). “No space for humanizing us:” Men of color identifying institutional needs at a rural university. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 26(1), 85-107.
• Huerta, A. H., Lopez, E. F., Salazar, M. E., Torres, G. M., & Muñoz, M. (2023). Bridging criminal justice scholarship into the field of higher education: Implications for research, practice, and policy. In L.W. Perna (Ed.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, vol. 38, (pg. 589-630). Springer.
• Huerta, A. H., McDonough, P. M., Venegas, K. V. & Allen, W. R. (2023). College is…: Focusing on the college knowledge of gang-associated Latino boys and young men. Urban Education. DOI: 10.1177/0042085920934854
• Neri, R. C., Zipin, L., Rios-Aguilar, C. & Huerta, A. H. (2023). Surfacing deep challenges for social-educational justice: Putting funds, wealth, and capital frameworks into dialogue. Urban Education, 58(7), 1512-1538.
• Huerta, A. H., & Martinez, E., Jr. (2022). Strategies and support services for community college Latino/x men on academic probation. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 15(4), 406-411.
• Huerta, A. H. (2022). Exploring undergraduate students’ emotional vulnerability in men of color programs. Journal of College Student Development.
• Huerta, A. H. (2022). Accessing possible selves with limited college knowledge: Case studies of Latino boys in two urban continuation schools. American Behavioral Scientist, 66(10), 1342–1367.
• Huerta, A. H., Rios-Aguilar, C., & Ramirez, D. (2022). A case study of how racial and ethnic minoritized community college student parents make decisions about college, careers, and campus resources. Community College Review.
• Huerta, A. H., & Hernandez, E. (2021). Capturing the complexity of alternative schools: Narratives of Latino males in an overlooked educational space. The Urban Review.
• Huerta, A. H., & Rios-Aguilar, C. (2021). “Treat a cop like they are God”: Exploring the relevance and utility of funds of gang knowledge among Latino male students. Urban Education.
• Huerta, A.H., & Dizon, J.P.M. (2021). Redistributing resources for men of color in higher education. About Campus.
• Huerta, A.H., Howard, T.C., & Haro, B.N. (2020). A call to action for new practice and research efforts to support Black and Latino boys in education. Phi Delta Kappa, 102(1), 29–33.
• Huerta, A. H. (2018). Educational persistence in the face of violence: Narratives of resilient Latino male youth. Boyhood Studies, 11(2), 94-113.
• Huerta, A. H., McDonough, P. M., & Allen, W. R. (2018). Employing a developmental perspective to examine how young men of color construct a college-going identity. Urban Review. DOI: 10.1007/s11256-018-0466-9
• Howard, T. C., Woodward, B., Navarro, O., Huerta, A. H., Haro, B., & Watson, K. (2019). Renaming the narrative, reclaiming their humanity: Black and Latino males descriptions of success. Teachers College Record, 121(5), 1-32.
• Martinez, E., & Huerta, A. H. (2020). Deferred enrollment: Chicano/Latino males, social mobility and military enlistment. Education & Urban Society. DOI: 10.1177/0013124518785021
• Estrada, J. N., Huerta, A. H., Hernandez, E., Hernandez, R., & Kim, S. (2018). Socio-ecological risk and protective factors for youth gang involvement. In H. Shapiro and associates (Eds.), The Handbook of Violence in Education: Forms, Factors, and Preventions. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Garcia, G., Huerta, A. H., Ramirez, J. J., & Patron, O. E. (2017). Contexts that matter to the leadership development of Latino male college students: A mixed-methods perspective. Journal of College Student Development, 58(1), 1-18.
• Howard, T. C., & Associates (2017). The counter narrative: Reframing success of high achieving Black and Latino males in Los Angeles County. University of California, Los Angeles: UCLA Black Male Institute.
• Giraldo, L. G., Huerta, A. H., & Solórzano, D. G. (2017). From incarceration to community college: Funds of knowledge, community cultural wealth, and critical race theory. In C. Rios-Aguilar & J. M. Kiyama (Eds.), Funds of Knowledge in Higher Education: Honoring Students’ Cultural Experiences and Resources as Strengths (pp. 48-65). New York: Routledge.
• Santos, J. L., Roth, K., & Huerta, A. H., & Ritter, Z. (2015). Technology and improving learning outcomes: A discussion of policy, costs and access. In R. T. Teranishi, L. Bordoloi Pazich, M. Knobel, & W. R. Allen (Eds.), Mitigating Inequality: Higher Education Research, Policy, and Practice in an Era of Massification and Stratification. U.K.: Emerald Group Publishing.
• Huerta, A. H. (2015). “I didn’t want my life to be like that”: Gangs, college, or the military for Latino male high school students. Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies, 7(2), 156-167.
• Huerta, A. H. (2015). The role of counselors in facilitating college opportunities for marginalized student populations. In J. D. Mathis, R. M. Rall & T. M. Laudino (Eds.), Fundamentals of college admission counseling: A textbook for graduate students and practicing counselors (pp. 276-289). Arlington, VA: NACAC.
• Huerta, A. H., & Fishman, S. M. (2014). Marginality and mattering: Urban Latino male undergraduates in higher education. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 26(1), 85-100.
• Sanchez, S. M., Huerta, A. H., & Venegas, K. M. (2012). Latino males and college preparation programs: Examples of increased access. Metropolitan Universities, 22(3), 27-45.
• Venegas, K. M., & Huerta, A. H. (2010). Urban ethnography: Approaches, perspectives and challenges. In M. Savin-Baden & C. H. Major (Eds.), New approaches to qualitative research: Wisdom and uncertainty (pp. 154-161). New York: Taylor Francis.

Associate Professor of Education (tenured), Rossier School of Education, 4/2025 – Present

Assistant Professor of Education (tenure-track), Rossier School of Education, 8/2019 – 4/2025

Assistant Professor of Population & Public Health Sciences (courtesy), Keck School of Medicine, 7/2024 – Present

Provost Postdoctoral Scholar, Pullias Center for Higher Education, Rossier School of Education, USC, 8/2017 – 8/2019

Research Affiliate, University of Texas, Austin, Project MALES, 8/2016 – present

Postdoctoral Research Scholar, UCLA Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), 7/2016 – 7/2018

Research Assistant, UCLA, 10/2011 – 6/2016

Assistant Director, USC, Office of the Provost, McNair Scholars Program, 3/2011 – 8/2011

Program Coordinator, USC, McNair Scholars Program, 3/2010 – 3/2011

Academic Advisor, USC, Rossier School of Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, 6/2009 – 3/2010

Funder: W. T. Grant Foundation.
Amount: 599,997
co-PI
Duration: 2025-2028

Funder: California Community Foundation.
Amount: 50,000
PI
Duration: 2024-2026

Funder: ECMC Foundation
Amount: 159,203
PI
Duration: 2022-2023

Funder: U.S. Department of Education
Amount: 990,000
co-PI.
Duration: 2021-2024

Title: LBCC Phoenix Scholars: Supporting gang-involved youth and young adults into postsecondary education

Funder: CSU Student Success Network
PI
Amount: 38,500
Duration: 2020-2021

Funder: ECMC Foundation
PI
Amount: 9,350
Duration: 2020

Funder: Institute for Research on Poverty
PI
Amount: 20,000
Duration: 2019-2021

Funder: ECMC Foundation
Amount: 300,000
Duration: 2018-2021

Funder: The Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions
Amount: ~45,000 (25K from community college partner)
Duration: 2018-2020