Faculty

Royel M. Johnson

Associate Professor & Co-Director

royelmjo@usc.edu

Programs

Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership

Research Concentration

Higher Education

Expertise

System-impacted students | Sense of belonging | Racial equity in higher education

Education

PhD, Higher Education and Student Affairs, The Ohio State University

EdM, Educational Policy Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

BA, Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Download CV

Royel M. Johnson is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Social Work at the University of Southern California. He serves as Co-Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education and is the incoming Editor of The Review of Higher Education.

Johnson’s program of research broadly examines how institutional policies, practices, and cultural norms shape access, belonging, and student success in higher education. His work has a particular focus on system-impacted students, including those with experience in foster care, the criminal legal system, and housing instability. He also examines how colleges and universities respond to political pressure on racial equity efforts, and he develops theoretical and methodological tools for studying marginality in higher education.

He is the author or editor of four books and more than 60 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. From Foster Care to College (Teachers College Press) received NASPA’s 2026 Outstanding Publication Award. The Big Lie About Race in America’s Schools (Harvard Education Press) received the 2026 Book Award from the Society of Professors of Education. His research has been supported by more than $6.5 million in funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, the Spencer Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

In 2026 he received the Trueba Award for Research Leading to the Transformation of the Social Contexts of Education from AERA Division G, which also honored him with its Early Career Award in 2022. The Los Angeles Times named him a DEIA visionary in 2023 and 2024.

As founding co-host and executive producer of the ASHE Presidential Podcast, he has convened national conversations with leading scholars on equity, belonging, and the public purposes of higher education. He has also delivered more than 100 invited keynotes and workshops, and outlets including The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, the Los Angeles Times, and Education Week regularly seek his expertise. He works with colleges, universities, K–12 systems, and nonprofit organizations to translate research into policy and practice.

Johnson earned a PhD in higher education and student affairs, with a cognate in race and social policy, from The Ohio State University. He holds a BA in political science and an MEd in education policy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Research

Current Research Initiatives:

• JusticeReFramed — A Russell Sage Foundation–funded digital storytelling intervention designed to reduce stigma toward justice-impacted individuals and strengthen institutional responses to criminal legal system involvement.

• California Black-Serving Institution Designation Project — Research examining the development, implementation, and policy implications of a statewide Black-Serving Institution designation in California higher education.

• Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement (YHSI) Initiative — A Los Angeles County–funded initiative (Department of Homeless Services and Housing), based at the USC Homeless Policy Research Institute, co-leading a countywide needs assessment on housing stability, mental health access, and cross-system service coordination for transition-age youth experiencing homelessness.

• FosterEd College Navigator — An Amazon Web Services–funded project developing an AI-supported college navigation and advising tool for young people with foster care experience in California.

Publications

Johnson, R.M., Haynes, M.L., & Strayhorn, T.L. (2026). Signals of identity safety: How relational and curricular cues shape belonging for graduate students of color. American Behavioral Scientist.
Johnson, R.M., Martin, M.M., Oduro, A., & Haynes, M. (2026). Evasion, protection, and conditionality: White staff narratives that uphold whiteness in higher education. The Journal of Higher Education.
Johnson, R.M., DeCuir-Gunby, J.T., Kenney, A., & Lyons, T. (2025). Black student belonging in K–12 schools: Implications for policy and practice amid attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion. Social Issues and Policy Review.
DeCuir-Gunby, J.T. & Johnson, R.M. (2025). A review of critical race methodology in education: Current trends and future directions. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.
Johnson, R.M., Oduro, A., & Duran, G. (2025). “Nothing will change”: Black staff counternarratives on anti-Black racism and DEI in higher education. The Journal of Higher Education.
DeCuir-Gunby, J.T. & Johnson, R.M. (2025). Using critical race mixed methods to study multiply marginalized youth of color in schools. Journal of School Psychology.
Johnson, R.M. & Kim, H. (2025). Effects of juvenile arrest on immediate college enrollment: Examining the role of race/ethnicity and parental education. The Journal of Higher Education.
Strayhorn, T.L., Williams, M.S., & Johnson, R.M. (Eds.). (2024). Creating new possibilities for the future of HBCUs with research. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Johnson, R.M. & Harper, S.R. (Eds.). (2024). The big lie about race in America’s schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Johnson, R.M. (2024). From foster care to college: Navigating challenges and creating possibilities. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Taylor, L.D. & Johnson, R.M. (Eds.) (2022). Enacting student success: Critical and alternative perspectives for practice, New Directions for Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Johnson, R.M. (2022) A socio-ecological perspective on sense of belonging among racially/ethnically minoritized college students: Implications for equity-minded practice and policy. In L.D. Taylor. & R.M. Johnson (Eds.), Enacting student success: Critical and alternative perspectives for practice, New Directions for Higher Education (pp. 59-68). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Lewis, M.A., Modeste, M.E., & Johnson, R.M. (2023). The rise of school district Chief Equity Officers: Moving beyond mimetic isomorphismand promoting anti-racist systemic change. Education Administration Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X231153404
Johnson, R. M., & Strayhorn, T. L. (2022). Examining race and racism in Black men doctoral student socialization: A critical race mixed methods analysis. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
Johnson, R.M., Anya, U., & Garces, L.M. (Eds.) (2022). Racial equity on college campuses: Connecting research and practice. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Brown, N. P., Johnson, R.M., & Strayhorn, T.L., Pagoto, S., Waring, M.E.,Palmer, L., Lewis, K.A., & Workman, D. (2022). Psychosocial impacts of #BlackLivesMatter protests and police killings on undergraduate students in STEM. Teachers College Record.
López, F.A., Johnson, R.M. Ward, L.A., & Patterson, A.N. (2021) How do education researchers contest the anti-Critical Race Theory propaganda? Teachers College Record. https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=23865
Savage, S.S., Johnson, R.M., Kenney, A.J., & Haynes, D.D. (2021) Perspectives on conducting humanizing and liberatory qualitative research with racially minoritized youth. Health Care, 9(10), 317. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9101317
Johnson, R.M. & *Dizon, J.P. (2021). Toward a conceptualization of the college-to-prison nexus. Peabody Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2021.1991692
Johnson, R.M. (2021). Academic resilience among Black male college students formerly in foster care: Implications for school counselors. Professional School Counseling Journal, 25(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X211040003
López, F., Molnar, A., Johnson, R.M., Ward, L.A, Patterson, A.N., & Kumashiro, K. (2021). Understanding the attacks on Critical Race Theory. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center.
Johnson, R.M. (2021). Black youth in foster care and the school-prison nexus. Feature: The community college context. Champaign, IL: Office of Community College Research and Leadership. https://doi.org/ 10.13140/RG.2.2.16430.43843/2
Johnson, R.M. & Davis, J.E. (2021). Advancing racial equity in education in the carceral state. Peabody Journal of Education. 96(5), 491-493 https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2021.2016101
Johnson, R.M., Alvarado, R.E., & Rosinger, K.O. (2021). What’s the “problem” of considering criminal history in college admissions? A critical analysis of “Ban the Box” policies in Louisiana and Maryland. Journal of Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2020.1870849
Johnson, R.M. (2021). The state of research on undergraduate youth formerly in foster care: A systematic review of literature. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(1), 147-160. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000150
Dowd, A. & Johnson, R.M. (2020). Why do systematic review?: A reader’s and editor’s perspective. In O. Zawacki-Richter, S.B. Kerres, M. Bond, & K. Buntiens (Eds.), Systematic reviews in educational research: Methodology, perspectives and application (pp. 69-87). Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer, VS.
Johnson, R.M., Strayhorn, T.L., & Parler, B.A. (2020). “I just want to be a regular kid:” A qualitative study of sense of belonging high school youth in high school in foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104832
Johnson, R.M. (2020). Five things student affairs professionals can do to support justice-involved college students. Washington, DC: NASPA. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26238.61765
Oseguera, L., Park, H, J., De Los Rios, M.J., Aparicio, E., & Johnson, R.M. (2019). Examining the role of scientific identity in Black student retention in a STEM scholar program. Journal of Negro Education, 88(33), 229-248. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.3.0229
Johnson, R.M., Strayhorn, T.L., & Travers, C.S. (2019). Exploring the academic advising experiences of Black males at an urban university: An exploratory case study. Urban Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085919894048
Johnson, R.M. & Strayhorn, T.L. (2019). Preparing youth in foster care for college through an early outreach program. Journal of College Student Development, 60(5), 612-616. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2019.0051
Johnson, R.M. (2015). Measuring the influence of juvenile arrest on the odds of four-year college enrollment for Black males: An NLSY analysis. Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men, 4(1), 49-72. https://doi.org/10.2979/spectrum.4.1.04
Strayhorn, T.L., & Johnson, R.M. (2014). Why are all the White students sitting together in college? Impact of Brown v. Board of Education on cross-racial interactions among Blacks and Whites. Journal of Negro Education, 83(3), 385-399. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.3.0229
Strayhorn, T.L., & Johnson, R.M. (2014). Toward a model of professional identity: A preliminary study of Black men. The NASAP Journal, 15(2), 59-74.
Strayhorn, T.L., & Johnson, R.M. (2014). Black female community college students’ satisfaction: A national regression analysis. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 38, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2013.866060
Johnson, R. M. (2013). Black and male on campus: An autoethnographic account. Journal of African American Men in Education, 4(2), 25-45.
Strayhorn, T.L., Johnson, R.M., & Barrett, B.A. (2013). Investigating the adjustment and transition experiences of formerly incarcerated African American males at PWIs. Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men, 2(1), 73-98. https://doi.org/10.2979/spectrum.2.1.73

Courses Taught

EDUC 728: Complexity of Educational Systems: Emerging Ideas, Emerging Markets

EDUC 617: Race, Racism and Education

EDUC 707: Administration in Higher Education

EDUC 653: Advanced Qualitative Research Methods

EDUC 683: ProSeminar in Urban Education Policy

Awards and Grants

2026 Trueba Award for Research Leading to the Transformation of the Social Contexts of Education, AERA Division G

2026 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award

2026 NASPA Faculty Council Outstanding Publication Award

2024 Named DEIA Visionary by the Los Angeles Times

2024 USC Rossier School of Education Excellence in Research Award

2024 45th Pullias Distinguished Lecturer

2024 ACPA Diamond Honoree, Class of 2024

2023 Named DEIA Visionary by the Los Angeles Times

2023 Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology’s New Leader Award.

2022 AERA Division G Early Career Award

2022 AERA Multicultural/Multiethnic Education SIG’s Dr. Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Emerging Scholarship

2022 ACPA’s Outstanding Contribution to Multicultural Education and Research Award

2021 Penn State College of Education Cotterill Leadership Enhancement Award

2021 NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow Semi-finalist

2020 University of Illinois College of Education Young Alumni Award

2020 ACPA Emerging Scholar-Designee

Contracts/Grants

Principal Investigator or Co-PI on grants and contracts exceeding $6.5 million

Active

Youth Homeless System Improvement (YHSI) Needs Assessment. Los Angeles County Department of Homeless Services and Housing. Co-PI. $174,877. 2026–2027.
JusticeReFramed: Reducing Stigma Through Digital Storytelling. Russell Sage Foundation. Co-PI. $196,205. 2026–2028.
FosterEd College Navigator. Amazon Web Services Education Equity Initiative. PI. $45,000. 2026–2027.
The Research Institute for Scholars of Equity (RISE). Institute of Education Sciences. Co-PI. $1,533,384. 2021–2026.

Selected Completed

Expanding Criminal Justice Reform Critical Policy Research. Walmart Foundation. Co-PI. $1,000,000. 2024–2025.
Ed Equity Research and Policy Collaborative. Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Co-PI. $250,000. 2021–2022.
Translating Critical Race Research for Evidenced-Based Policymaking. Spencer Foundation. Co-PI. $50,000. 2021–2022.
Measuring the Varying Effects of Juvenile Arrest on College Enrollment. AERA/NSF. PI. $35,000. 2022–2024.
Envisioning Racial Equity on College Campuses. Spencer Foundation. PI. $50,000. 2018–2019.
Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center Program. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Co-PI. ~$3.2M. 2019–2021.

Professional Affiliations and Memberships

Associate Professor (tenured), USC Rossier School of Education, 2022–present

Associate Professor (joint appointment), USC Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, 2022–present

Faculty Member, Pullias Center for Higher Education, USC, 2022–present

Co-Director, Research Institute for Scholars of Equity (RISE), 2021–present

Co-Editor, Educational Researcher, AERA, 2023–present

Assistant/Associate Professor, Education Policy Studies, Penn State, 2017–2021