SCHOLARSHIP

My scholarship examines how higher education institutions shape student experiences, educational opportunity, and pathways to success. Broadly, my work centers on three interconnected areas: the educational experiences of Black students and professionals in higher education, first-generation student success and graduate education pathways, and critical qualitative methodologies in higher education inquiry. Grounded in a critical and intersectional perspective, my research explores how institutional contexts influence belonging, identity development, and opportunity for students navigating systems not originally designed with them in mind.

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Publications

Whitehead, M. A., Briscoe, K. L., Ford, J. R., Wallace, J. K., & Smith, T. C. (2026). The specificity of anti-blackness: A critical co-constructed autoethnography on the marginalizing experiences of early-career Black faculty. The Journal of Higher Education, 97(6), 993-1017.

Travers, C., Breeden, R., Snipes, J., Ford, J. R., Wallace, J. K., & McCloud, L. (2026). Communal rest is resistance: A spiritual balm for Black faculty in academe. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 19(4), 425-438.

Wallace, J. K. & Ford, J. R. (2025). Returning home: Reflections on cultural capital cultivated for Black men faculty through multicultural affairs work. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 18(3), 275-287.

Ford, J. R., Wallace, J. K., & Allen Jr., J. L. (2025). Bridging leadership development and hip-hop culture: Empowering Black students through culturally relevant education. New Directions for Student Leadership, 189, 89-95.

Wallace, J. K., Johnson, J. T., & Ford, J. R. (2024). For us, by us: Unpacking research with and for Black students in

higher education as early-career Black men faculty. In J. A. McElderry & S. Hernandez Rivera (Eds.), Developing an intersectional-consciousness and praxis in antiracist efforts (pp. 113-129). Information Age Publishing.

Wallace, J. K. (2024). Claiming space at the intersection: A professor’s narrative of navigating and [re]claiming space, place, and home beyond the walls of academe. In C. García-Louis, S. Ardoin, T. Shalka, K. M. McGuire, E. T. Parker (Eds.), Creating space for ourselves as minoritized and marginalized faculty: Narratives that humanize the academy (pp. 113-122). Routledge Publishing.

Breeden, R. L., Wallace, J. K., & Bryant, L. D. (2024). “This is our degree”: Reflections and advice from Black first-generation doctoral students. Journal of First-Generation Student Success, 4(1), 80-93.

Ford, J. R., Wallace, J. K., Matthews, D. Y., & Gillam, D. A. (2023). Race-based admissions and Affirmative action: Revisiting historical implications on Black students in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies, 4(1), 46-62.

Wallace, J. K. (2022). Nevertheless, we persist: Exploring the cultural capital of Black first-generation doctoral recipients at non-Black serving institutions. The Review of Higher Education, 45(4), 515-548.

Santa-Ramirez, S. & Wallace, J. K. (2022). We got work to do: Testomonios of queer Black and Latinx practitioner-scholar-advocates navigating the insider/outsider paradox within the ivory tower. In A. Duran, R. A. Miller, T. J. Jourian, & J. Cisneros (Eds.), Queerness as being in higher education: Narrating the insider/outsider paradox as LGBTQ+ scholars and practitioners (pp. 59-70). Routledge Publishing.

Wallace, J. K. & Ford, J. R. (2021). "They don't value my knowledge": Interrogating the racialized experiences of Black first-generation doctoral students in HESA programs at HWIs. Journal of First-Generation Student Success, 1(2), 127-144.

Coleman, R., Wallace, J. K., & Means, D. (2020). Questioning a single narrative: Multiple identities shaping Black queer and transgender student retention. The Journal of College Student Retention: Theory, Research, and Practice – Special Issue, 21(4), 455-475.

Wallace, J. K. (2020). “The ancestors are watching; make them proud”: Narratives exploring Black first-generation
doctoral recipients’ use of cultural capital at non-Black serving institutions. (Publication No. 27740607)
[Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Evans, M. E. & Wallace, J. K. (2019). No longer cast aside: A critical approach to serving queer and trans students of Color in higher education. In D. Mitchell Jr., J. Marie, & T. Steele (Eds.), Intersectionality & higher education: Theory, research, and praxis (2nd ed., pp. 181-189). Peter Lang Publishing.

Presentations

Kniess, D., Shaw, A. Z., & Wallace, J.K. (2025, March). Craft your career: A discussion about mid-career options and experiments. Presentation for the 2025 NASPA Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.

Bullington, K., Gregory, D., McKinnon-Crowley, S., Sasso, P., & Wallace, J. K. (2025, March). The elusive assistant professorship: Advice on securing a tenure track position in higher education/student affairs. Presentation for the 2025 NASPA Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.

Venaas, M., Dixon, K., Wallace, J. K., Dewberry, C., & Wilson, Z. (2024, November). Assessment hacks: Unlocking practical tips for student affairs professionals. Presentation for the Southern Association for College Student Affairs Administration (SACSA) Annual Conference, Charlotte, NC.

Whitehead, M., Briscoe, K., Ford, J., Wallace, J. K., & Smith, T. (2023, April). Proximity and practice: Enacted whiteness and anti-blackness in the experiences of Black faculty. Paper accepted for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

Evans, M. E., & Wallace, J. K. (2022, December). Advancing justice at risk-averse institutions using a tempered radical approach. Pre-conference session at the 2022 NASPA/ACPA Leadership Educators Institute, New Orleans, LA.

Ford, J. R., Wallace, J. K., & Ball, J. (2022, November). “We are going through this together”: Exploring mentorship for Black men doctoral students. Roundtable presentation for the Council for Ethnic Participation (CEP) Pre-Conference at the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV.

Thompson, J., Chasteen, A., Sparkman, L., Valles, J., Wallace, J. K., & Zimmerman, C. (2022, October). Should we go back to football in the quad? Campus culture as we move through COVID. Presentation for the 2022 National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.

Wallace, J. K., Quarles, D. A., Lawrence, P. J. (2021, November). A power-conscious analysis of impostorism in

higher education. Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Wallace, J. K. (2020, November). Straight outta college: An anthology of 10 Black first-gen docs.

Performance presentation for the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Conference, Virtual Conference.

Wallace, J. K. (2019, November). “#MelaninMagic: Amplifying the voices of Black first-generation college students pursuing doctorates at historically white institutions”. Paper presented at the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Conference, Portland, OR.

Amer, A., Bennett-Alexander, D., Sue, D. W., Wallace, J. K. (2017, March). “Courageous conversations: Next steps in everyday life, research, and practice”. Keynote panel presented at the 12th annual University of Georgia College of Education Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference, Athens, GA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJLiDZX6fag&t=742s