Faculty
Esther Chihye Kim
Associate Professor of Clinical Education
Programs
Expertise
Research Methodology • Higher Education • Inequities
Education
Yale University, Ph.D., Sociology
University of Pennsylvania, MS Ed., Culture and Society
University of California at Los Angeles, BA, Sociology (major) & Education (minor)
Esther Chihye Kim (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor of Clinical Education. Her areas of interest include research methodology, ethnography, higher education, and social inequities. At Rossier, Dr. Kim teaches courses in research methodology and equity. Her work also includes leading discussions on inclusion and representation for organizational improvement and growth.
Publications
- Kim, E. C. (2026). Navigating Temporary Housing. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social and Community Studies. https://doi.org/10.18848/2324-7576/cgp/a301
- Rivas, J. G., & Kim, E. C. (2024). Reflections of First-Generation Professionals: Impacts of the First-Gen College Experience on First-Time Employment. Journal of First-Generation Student Success, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/26906015.2024.2381122
- Kim, E. C. (2023). Accumulating summer loss: an ethnographic look into the summer whereabouts and activities of low-income college students. Ethnography and Education, 18(2), 127–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2022.2119877
- Kim, E. C. (2021). Remembering Bill Helmreich and his ethnography lessons. Qualitative Inquiry.
- Kim, E.C. (2021). Poetic Reflections: Notes from “I am from…” Perspectives on Urban Education, 18(2).
- Kendall, N., Goerisch, D., Kim, E.C., Vernon, F., & Wolfgram, M. (2020). The true costs of college. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Kim, E.C. (2018 April). Live from my Living Room Desk, it’s Online Teaching! The Chronicle of Higher Education.
- Kim, E.C. (2015). International Professors in China: Prestige Maintenance and Making Sense of Teaching Abroad. Current Sociology 63(4): 604-620.
- Goldrick-Rab, S., Kendall, N., Goerisch, D., Kim, E.C., Vernon, F., and Wolfgram, M. (2015 September 30). “The True Costs of College Attendance,” A report to the Lumina Foundation.
- Kim, E.C. (2012). Nonsocial Transient Behavior: Social Disengagement on the Greyhound Bus. Symbolic Interaction 35(3): 267-283.
- Kim, E.C. (2012). “Call me Mama”: An Ethnographic Portrait of an Employer of Undocumented Workers. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 642: 170-185.
- Kim, E.C. (2012 August 14). Enjoy the Silence: Commuters are Nonsocial for Good Reason. TheConversation.Edu.Au
- Kim, E.C. (2010). Foods and Foodways in Korean American Families and Communities. Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife, Jonathan H.X. Lee and Kathleen Nadeau (ed.s). ABC-CLIO.
- Kim, E.C. (2009). Mama’s Family: Fictive Kinship and Undocumented Immigrant Restaurant Workers. Ethnography 10(4): 497-513.
Courses Taught
Research methods (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed/multi methods)
Equity, inclusion, and power