We are proud to announce Dr. Sachiko Oates as the 2024 CPED Dissertation in Practice (DiP) winner for her outstanding dissertation, From Resilience to Empowerment: Immigrant-Origin Adult Learners’ Journeys towards Postsecondary Education. Dr. Oates, under the guidance of her dissertation chair, Amy Markos, EdD, at Arizona State University, explored the experiences of immigrant-origin adults striving to pursue higher education, revealing the transformative power of resilience in their journeys.

With over 22 years of experience in varied educational institutions, Dr. Oates is an enthusiastic and dedicated leader and student equity advocate. Her experience spans school management, curriculum design, edTech tool development, textbook writing, and teacher training. She is deeply committed to culturally responsive teaching in diverse learning environments, which played a key role in shaping her dissertation in practice research.

Dr. Amy Markos shares, "Dr. Oates framed her inquiry around equity, ethics, and social justice to bring about solutions to a complex problem of practice at her local community college, namely the campus climate, and practices affecting immigrant-origin adult learners in their career and academic goal achievement." Her innovative use of critical participatory action research (CPAR), coupled with her professional experience, exemplifies her dedication to creating impactful, lasting change in the field of education, a true hallmark of a scholarly practitioner!

To learn more, you can access Dr. Oates’ full dissertation here.

We extend our congratulations to Dr. Oates for this well-deserved recognition. She will be honored at the #CPED2024 convening in Hawai’i October 14-17th.