Alexandra Pavlakis

Dr. Pavlakis is an Associate Professor in the Education Policy and Leadership department at Southern Methodist University (SMU). She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a MSc. in Social Policy & Planning from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a MSc. in Teaching from Pace University through New York City Teaching Fellows Program, and a B.A. in History from Brown University. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Pavlakis was a New York City high school social studies teacher and a research and policy analyst. At SMU, she teaches leadership and qualitative methods courses on the doctoral and master's level.

Her research agenda addresses the social contexts of education. In particular, she examines how student and families’ broader life contexts intersect with educational institutions, actors, policies, and practices to shape their schooling experiences. Her work falls into three distinct but overlapping research strands: 1) educational leadership and community change, 2) family-school-community engagement, and 3) policy and diversity in student homelessness. While her third strand explicitly addresses student homelessness, across all three, she focuses primarily on the contexts of economic disadvantage, poverty, homelessness, and housing instability.

Her recent work can be found in outlets such as Educational Researcher, Urban Education, Teachers College Record, The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), The Urban Review, and other outlets.

For more information on her research and teaching please see: https://alexandrapavlakis.com/

Recent select peer-reviewed publications

(* graduate student, # postdoctoral fellow)

Pavlakis, A.E., Roberts, J.K., Richards, M.P. & Zaru, M. # (2026). Same storm, different boat: Student homelessness and natural disasters. The Urban Review, 58(28). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11256-026-00808-5

Richards, M. P., Pavlakis, A. E., Phillips, C., * & Roberts, J. K. (2026). Educational outcomes of natural disaster vs. conventional pathways to homelessness: Evidence from Hurricane Harvey. Educational Researcher. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/0013189X261441610

Pavlakis, A.E., Neal, S. * & Neal, S.L. * (2026). Beyond Superwoman: Leaders building capacity for student homelessness. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15554589261450979

Zaru, M., # Pavlakis, A.E., Friend, M. & Hall, M. (2025). Figuring out this world: Adult learners at an addiction recovery homeless shelter. Studies in the Education of Adults. https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2025.2565024

Pavlakis, A.E., Roberts, J.K., Richards, M.P., & Hernandez, M.J. * (2025). Mothering in double crisis: Pandemic parenting while homeless. Journal of Family Studies. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13229400.2025.2477241

Richards, M.P. & Pavlakis, A.E. (2022). Foregrounding the “home” in student homelessness: Residential context and educational outcomes in an urban district. Educational Researcher, 51(6), 366-375. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189X221090266

Roberts, J.K., # Pavlakis, A.E., & Richards, M.P. (2021). It’s more complicated than it seems: Virtual qualitative research in the COVID-19 Era. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 1-13. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/16094069211002959

Pavlakis, A.E. & Pryor, K. * (2021). Planning for the future amid uncertainty in the present: Accompanied youth experiencing homelessness and postsecondary possibilities. The Urban Review, 53(2), 354-382. [published online March 21, 2020]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-020-00572-0

Potter, P., * Pavlakis, A.E., & Roberts, J.K. # (2020). Calming the storm: Natural disasters, crisis management, and school leadership. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555458920973695

Pavlakis, A.E. (2020). At the nexus of two terrains: A critical ethnographic case study of an afterschool center for homelessness. The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE). https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1735558