Erin Knepler
Pronouns: She/Her
Erin is a senior research director in the Higher Education Analytics Center (HEAC) at NORC at the University of Chicago and a Sparks blog contributor. Erin brings more 15 years of experience working in higher education conducting research and analysis on postsecondary career pathways, college completion, campus and organizational climate, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs.
Currently, Erin serves as project director of a grant from the National Science Foundation (award no. 2226007) to conduct a culturally responsive, mixed-methods research project addressing critical gaps in research related to career trajectories of STEM PhD students. This effort will further the goal of building an elite, diverse STEM workforce committed to addressing and solving pressing social problems and is in partnership with North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University, North Carolina State University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Erin also directs several campus climate studies for academic institutions and faith-based organizations.
Prior to NORC, Erin was the associate director of research and higher education and workforce research lead at Public Agenda. In this role, she designed and analyzed representative surveys of the general public and specialized surveys for postsecondary leaders and content experts. Before joining Public Agenda, Erin was a researcher and P-20 program director at the University System of Maryland. In this role, she worked at the intersection of policy and application, specializing in system and campus-level academic innovation work and research on academic/industry partnerships.
Quick Links
Education
PhD
University of Maryland, College Park
MA
Marquette University
BA
Marquette University
Project Contributions
Publications
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NORC to Study Emerging Career Trajectories of Diverse STEM PhD Students
Press Release | April 27, 2023
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"Graduate Schools Respond to Covid-19"
White Paper | January 1, 2021
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opens in new tab"Identifying Promising Practices in University-Based Monitoring of Doctoral Career Pathways."
Project Report | October 31, 2019
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opens in new tab"Designing and Implementing Work Based-Learning: Research Findings and Key Lessons from Employers."
Project Report | July 30, 2019
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opens in new tab"Strengthening the STEM Pipeline, Part II: The Contributions of Small and Mid-Sized Independent Colleges in Preparing Underrepresented Students in STEM."
Project Report | June 10, 2019
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opens in new tab"Progress and Pitfalls in Tracking U.S. Doctoral Career Paths."
Project Report | May 22, 2019
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opens in new tab"New Approaches to Judging Quality in Higher Education."
Project Report | July 24, 2018
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Most Americans Say State and Federal Governments Should Subsidize Higher Education
NORC Article