Position Title
PhD Candidate
Education
- MA in Sociology, Rice University
- PhD Candidate in Sociology, UC Davis
About
Irina Chukhray is a PhD candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of California, Davis. Her mixed-method research focuses on immigrant youth who arrived in the U.S. before age 18 and their experience with college-going.
Prior to UC Davis, she was a Research Analyst for the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC, directed by Dr. Ruth Lopez Turley), with the Kinder Urban Institute at Rice University, and later she was the Program Manager for an international collaborative study with OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). Irina also holds a Master's degree in Sociology from Rice University as well as a Master's degree in Women's Studies and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from San Diego State University.
Professional Positions
Present
- Visiting Scholar. Sociology Department. University of Pennsylvania.
2018 - 2019
- Program Manager. OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Service
2024 - 2025
- Graduate Student Representative. International Migration. American Sociological Association.
2023 - 2024
- Organizer. "Immigrant Youth Navigating U.S. Educational Institutions." Society for the Study of Social Problems.
- Reviewer. International Migration.
Fellowships
2024 – 2025
- Graduate Fellowship. Univ. of CA, Davis.
2023 – 2024
- Gardner Fellow. Center for Studies in Higher Education. Univ. of CA, Berkeley.
- Graduate Fellowship. Univ. of CA, Davis.
2022 – 2023
- Gardner Fellow. Center for Studies in Higher Education. Univ. of CA, Berkeley.
- Penn-Birmingham Transatlantic Migration Fellow. Univ. of Pennsylvania & Univ. of Birmingham (UK).
- Graduate Research Mentorship Fellow (stipend & tuition, plus research funds). Univ. of CA, Davis.
2021 – 2022
- Penn Migration Initiative (PMI) Fellow. University of Pennsylvania.
2020 – 2021
- Immigration Initiative at Harvard (IIH) Fellow. Harvard University.
Publications
Holzman, Brian, Irina Chukhray, and Courtney Thrash. R&R - Education Finance and Policy. "EMERGEing Educational Opportunities: The Effects of Social Capital and Nudging on Selective College Outcomes."
- Working Paper Published (2023) by the Annenberg Institute's EdWorkingPapers series. Paper link here: https://edworkingpapers.com/ai23-812
Holzman, Brian, Esmeralda Sanchez Salazar, and Irina Chukhray. 2020. “Inequalities in Postsecondary Attainment by English Learner Status: The Role of College-Level Course-Taking.” Research Brief for the Houston Education Research Consortium 9(2).
Chukhray, Irina, Brian Holzman, Nehemiah Ankoor, DongMei Li. 2019. “Finishing What My Parents Started: College Aspirations among EMERGE students.” Research Brief for the Houston Education Research Consortium 8(3)
Chukhray, Irina. 2018. “Modern Abolitionist Struggle.” Introduction to Virtual Issue of Social Problems journal and selection of articles for the issue
Teaching
Education and Inequality in the U.S., Social Problems, Stratification, Social Science Research Methods
Awards
2024. SAGE Publishing Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award. American Sociological Association.
2023. Honorable Mention. Mayhew Award. Graduate Student Paper. University of California, Davis.
2022. Audrey Schwartz Service to SEA Award. Sociology of Education Association conference.
2022. Honorable Mention. Graduate Student Paper Award. Society for the Study of Social Problems.