School of Education — Leadership Studies — Organization and Leadership

Uma Jayakumar, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Leadership Studies, Organization and Leadership Program

Uma M. Jayakumar is a third year assistant professor of Organization and Leadership at the University of San Francisco's School of Education and Co-Director of the Higher Education and Student Affairs Master's program. She earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education and Organizational Change at UCLA and thereafter completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan.

Before coming to USF she was a faculty associate at the University of Michigan with the Education and Well Being program in the Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research (ISR). Jayakumar's scholarship examines race, equity, and diversity issues in higher education, with a focus on how institutional environments such as campus climates and cultures, and organizational practices shape access, experiences, race-relations, and educational outcomes among college students. These topics are reflected in the courses she teaches, which include Race, Diversity, and Higher Education, and Campus Environments and Cultures. Jayakumar's research is featured in the Harvard Educational Review, the Journal of Higher Education, Diverse Magazine, reports to foundations and educational institutes, and her co-edited book entitled: Creating Campus Cultures: Fostering Success among Diverse Student Populations.

Dr. Jayakumar is recipient of the 2007 Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year Award by the Association for the Study of Higher Education and was named Exemplary Diversity Scholar by the National Center for Institutional Diversity in 2010. This past year, Jayakumar was one of 21 social science researchers who co-developed an amicus brief summarizing key research findings related to the use of race-conscious admissions practices. The brief, submitted to The Supreme Court by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, supports the need for affirmative action in Higher Education Institutions. In addition to the Social Scientists brief, her work informs amici submitted to the Court by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), National Women's Law Center, 17 United States Senators, Harvard Graduate School of Education Students for Diversity, and Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.

Education

Ph.D., Education, University of California, Los Angeles
M.A., Education, University of California, Los Angeles
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Research Areas

Racial diversity and educational outcomes; campus climate and culture; college choice and access; race and educational equity.

Teaching
  • Academic and Student Affairs in Higher Education
  • Race, Diversity, and Higher Education
  • Student Development in College
  • Campus Environments and Cultures
  • Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education
Publications

Vogelgesang, L. J., Denson, N., & Jayakumar, U. M. (2010). What determines faculty-engaged scholarship? The Review of Higher Education, 33(4), 457-472.

Brown, B. A., Brown, C. A, & Jayakumar, U. M. (2009). When culture's class: Transposing a college going culture in an urban school. In W. R. Allen, E. Kimura-Walsh, & K. A. Griffin (Eds.),  Towards a brighter tomorrow: College barriers, hopes and plans of Black, Latino/a, and Asian American students in California. New York: Information Age Publishers.

Buenavista, T. L., Jayakumar, U. M., Misa-Escalante, K. (2009). Contextualizing Asian American education through Critical Race Theory: An example of U.S. Pilipino college student experiences. In S. D. Museus & M. J. Chang (Eds.),  Conducting research on Asian Americans in higher educatiton: New Directions for Institutional Research, No. 142. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Griffin, K. A., Jayakumar, U. M., Jones, M. J., & Allen, W. R. (2009). Overcoming barriers: Characteristics of Black male freshmen between 1971 and 2004. In H. T. Freirson, W. Pearson, & J.H. Wyche (Eds.). Black American males in higher education: Issues of participation and parity. United Kingdom: Emerals Group Publishing Limited.

Jayakumar, U. M. (2009). The invisible rainbow in diversity: Factors influencing sexual prejudice among college students. Journal of Homosexuality, 56(6), 675-700.

Jayakumar, U. M., Howard, T. C., Allen, W. R. & Han, J. C. (2009). Racial privilege in the professoriate: An exploration of campus climate, retention, and satisfaction. Journal of Higher Education, 80(5), 538-563.

Jayakumar, U. M. (2008). Can higher education meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and global society? Campus diversity and cross-cultural workforce competencies. Harvard Educational Review, 78(4), 615-651.