Angela M. Locks, Ph.D.
Department Chair: Educational Leadership
Executive Director: Center for Evaluation & Educational Effectiveness
Dr. Angela M. Locks has a long-standing commitment to and expertise in diversity in higher education. In the nearly three decades she has worked in higher education, including the most recent 16 years spent at CSULB, her work consistently values equity, diversity, collaboration, and promoting the holistic growth of students, faculty, staff, and administrators. Her scholarly work examines college access and college experiences for diverse college students with an emphasis on retention, institutional diversity praxis, and the relationships between college student interactions with diverse others and diversity program engagement.
Dr. Locks served as the Executive Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Academic Affairs from 2020 to 2024. As Executive Director, she focused on engagement, equity, and developing an inclusion portfolio for the Division of Academic Affairs. Specifically, she provided leadership for campus climate research efforts, the equity-mindedness of high impact practices (including Intergroup Dialogue), the synergistic efforts of the President’s Commissions on Inclusive Excellence, Status of Women, and Sustainability and is a liaison with the Academic Senate Campus Climate Committee and served as a university representative at several state and national organizations, including serving as the campus lead and principal investigator for the Truth, Racial, Healing, and Transformation efforts with the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Dr. Locks was the Principal Investigator and Interim Program Coordinator for the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program funded by the Mellon Foundation from 2017 to 2024.
Dr. Locks also recently served as the inaugural Director for the Office of Undergraduate Research Services from 2016-2020 and the founding director for the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program from 2013-2020. Her primary teaching assignments have focused on diversity, college campus climate, and serving diverse college students and she has supervised 18 dissertations and 23 master’s theses. Her contributions to students and the broader campus were recognized with the 2021 Wang Family Excellence Award Outstanding Faculty Service Nominee for CSULB, the 2014 Outstanding Faculty Mentor for Student Engagement in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity, CSULB Academic Affairs, and the 2014 Most Valuable Professor, College of Education from the CSULB Alumni Association.
Before joining CSULB, Dr. Locks held positions as the Interim/Special Assistant to the Director of National Center for Institutional Diversity, research assistant positions with senior diversity scholars, served as an Assistant Director for a campus-wide high impact practice program, all at the University of Michigan, and previously worked as a Youth Services Supervisor and live-in staff at a homeless shelter serving pregnant and parenting adolescents.
Dr. Locks currently teaches Education Leadership Doctorate 742 Exploration of Campus Cultures and in the past she has taught:
- Counseling 538 Student Development in Higher Education
- Counseling 548 The US College Student
- Counseling 693 Professional Development Seminar
- Counseling 643b/644b Fieldwork Supervision
- Educational Leadership Doctorate 720-721E Professional Seminar Series
- Educational Leadership Doctorate 724 Critical Perspectives on Diversity in Education
- Educational Leadership Doctorate 734 Survey Research
- Educational Leadership Doctorate 735 Applied Field Research
- Educational Psychology 576 Education and Diversity: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
- University Course 100 Freshman Seminar
Dr. Locks holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Higher Education (Diversity & Governance) from the Center for the Study of Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor as well as a Master of Arts in Education and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, also from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Dr. Locks recently completed co-editing a forthcoming volume Debunking the Grit Narrative in Higher Education to be published by the Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group and is the co-author of Diversity and Inclusion on Campus Supporting Students of Color in Higher Education. Her past research projects include an examination of college going from 7th grade through 12th grade and a longitudinal qualitative exploration of low-income, diverse community college students’ access to postsecondary education. The first project was an adaptation of the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute's Cooperative Institutional Research Program's (CIRP) Freshman Survey for use with middle and high school students. Dr. Locks utilized survey data, school district data and GEAR UP program participation data to complete analyses of students' college going behaviors, attitudes, and outcomes in the context of secondary school environments and college going support programs. The latter project examined the journey of low-income, first-generation community college students as they enter post-secondary education and follows them through their transfer to a four-year university to baccalaureate degree completion.
Earlier in her career, Dr. Locks completed a three-part study entitled, Institutional Commitment to Policies and Practices that Support Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Post-Affirmative Action Era. Using survey data from the Diverse Democracy Project, she examined student experiences and institutional praxis related to diversity of nine public universities in the U.S. These three discrete studies examined: (a) how public and private institutions vary in their commitment to diversity; (b) the connection between sense of belonging in college and interactions with diverse peers; and (c) participation in co-curricular diversity programs for African American, Latino, and White students. This three-part study has implications for three areas of significance for higher education professionals: (1) administrators engaged in setting race-conscious policies in a dynamic sociopolitical environment; (2) academic/student affairs professionals concerned with the transition to college; and (3) student affairs professionals dedicated to facilitating meaningful cross-racial interactions on college campuses because the study examined how institutions articulate their commitment to racial/ethnic diversity and specific effects on student behavior related to the frequency and nature of college student interactions with diverse others.
2023 Angela M. Locks, Rocio Mendoza, and Deborah F. Carter, Eds. Debunking the grit narrative in higher education: Drawing on the strengths of African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latinx and Native American Students. New York: Routledge.
2019 Rachelle Winkle Wagner and Angela M. Locks. Diversity and inclusion: Supporting Students of Color in higher education, 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge.
2017 Angela M. Locks. Integrative approaches for sustained diversity engagement in the early years of college. in E. St. John, C. Modey, & D. Schoem, (Eds.). Integrative pedagogy: Teaching to the whole student with heart, mind, and spirit (pp. 191-224). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
2016 Angela M. Locks, Dawn Person, Michelle Cuellar, Jeanette Maduena, and Melba Schneider Castro. Racially and socioeconomically diverse students’ pathways to college. in P. A. Pasque, M. P. Ting, N. Ortega, & J. C. Burkhardt (Eds.), Transforming understandings of diversity in higher education: Demography, democracy and discourse. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
2014 Adrian Rodriguez, Paul Ratanasiripong, Diane Hayashino, and Angela Locks. The effects of attachment and acculturation on Latino college students’ relationship satisfaction with a close friend. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education,13(4) 323–333.
2013 Rachelle Winkle Wagner and Angela M. Locks. Diversity and inclusion: Supporting racially and ethnically underrepresented students in higher education. New York: Routledge.
2013 Patricia Gandara, Leticia Oseguera, Lindsay Perez-Huber, Angela M. Locks, Jongyeon Ee, and Daniel Molina. (2013). Making education work for Latinas in the U.S. UCLA: Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles.
2013 Deborah Faye Carter, Angela M. Locks, and Rachelle Winkle Wagner. From when and where I enter: Theoretical and empirical considerations of minority students’ transition to college. Higher education: Handbook of Theory and Research, Volume, 28, pp. 93-149. Springer Netherlands.
2012 Leticia Oseguera and Angela M. Locks. Factors that influence positive educational outcomes for Latina youth. Prepared for Patricia Gándara, Professor of Education, UCLA, Co-Director, The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles.
2011 Rhana Natour, Angela M. Locks, and Phillip L. Bowman. Diversity, merit, and college choice: Role of a dynamic sociopolitical environment. in Phillip J. Bowman and Edward P. St. John, (Eds.) Diversity, merit, and higher education: Toward a comprehensive agenda for the twenty-first century: Readings on Equal Education, Vol 25, (pp. 111-139) New York: AMS Press, Inc.
2009 Leticia Oseguera, Angela M. Locks, and Irene I. Vega. Increasing Latina/o students’ baccalaureate attainment: A focus on retention. Journal of Hispanics in Higher Education, 8(1), 23-53.
2008 Angela M. Locks, Sylvia Hurtado, Nicholas Bowman, and Leticia Oseguera. Extending notions of campus climate and diversity to the transition to college: Experiences with diverse peers and college sense of belonging. Review of Higher Education 31(3), 257- 285.
2008 Angela M. Locks and Sandra R. Gregerman. Undergraduate Research as an Institutional Retention Strategy. in Roman Taraban and Richard L. Blanton, (Eds.), To think and act like a scientist: Undergraduate research experiences and their effects, pp. 11-32. New York: Teachers College Press.
1/2024 Panelist for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Climate Assessment Toolkit: Advancing Institutional Efforts for Improving Campus Climate American Association Colleges and Universities, Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
6/2023 Engaging administrators and staff: Adapting Intergroup Dialogue for employees. Presentation at Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center's (DDNRC) 2023 Conference. San José State University, San José, California.
1/2023 Panelist for Embracing truth in turbulent times: How Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers examine the reality of racial inequities to cultivate capacity for change. American Association Colleges and Universities, Annual Meeting, San Francsico, California.
3/2022 Megan Kline Crockett, Angela M. Locks, Ray Briggs, and John Hamilton. Virtual Presentation for American Association Colleges and Universities’ Diversity, Equity, and Student Success Pre-Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana.
4/2020 Julio Fregoso and Angela M. Locks. Through the pipeline: Associate degree aspirations of Black and Latino males. Presentation at meeting of American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, California. Cancelled due to covid 19 pandemic.
3/2020 Angela M. Locks, Leslie Reese, Shametrice Davis, and Anna M. Ortiz. A praxis approach to Intergroup Dialogue for P-20 educational leaders. Presentation at Diversity, Equity, and Student Success Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana. Cancelled due to covid 19 pandemic.
9/2020 Convener/Moderator for Racial equity in undergraduate research Webinar hosted by California State University, Long Beach #ScholarStrike Teach in.
8/2020 Panelist for Returning to the (virtual) campus: Activism, anti-racism, and transforming community Webinar hosted by Princeton University and Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center.
4/2017 Angela M. Locks, Rocio Mendoza and Elizabeth Primero. Understanding habits of the mind among diverse first year college students. Presentation at meeting of American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, Texas.
3/2017 Angela M. Locks, Sandra R. Gregerman, Elizabeth Primero, Jahmal Williams, Amy Strage and Dania Abid. Aligning resources to expand students’ horizons: undergraduate research as a retention strategy. NASPA Conference, San Antonio, Texas.
11/2016 Julio Fregoso and Angela M. Locks. Transfer aspirations of African American and Latino males enrolled in California community colleges. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio.
4/2016 Angela M. Locks, Dawn R. Person, Robert Dawson, Amy B. Jennings, and Rosean Moreno. Understanding Latina/o high school students’ school engagement, academic self-perception and anticipated high school extra-curricular engagement and their degree aspirations. Presentation at meeting of American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C.
11/2016 Elyzza Aparicio, Angela M. Locks, and Leticia Oseguera. Examining Latina/o STEM degree aspirations. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado.
4/2015 Angela M. Locks, Julio Fregoso, Dawn Person, Michelle Garcia, Amy Jennings and Melba Castro. Understanding Latina/o high school students’ intellectual self- confidence and pluralistic orientation in the 10th grade. Paper presented at meeting of the American Education Research Association, Chicago, Illinois.
3/2015 Angela M. Locks, Elyzza Aparicio, and Cecile Lindsay. Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. NASPA Conference. New Orleans, Louisiana.
4/2014 Angela M. Locks. (Organizer and Chair). Assessment of college access and success programs and initiatives. American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
