Faith Ann Couts

About

Faith Couts is a Ph.D. candidate in Education Policy and Social Context at the University of California, Irvine. As Lead Qualitative Researcher for the UCI Measuring Undergraduate Success Trajectories (MUST) Lab's College-to-Career Project, she conducts longitudinal research examining undergraduate experiences in career preparation and experiential workplace learning using mixed-methods and sociological frameworks.

Her research focuses on how education policy shapes college-to-career transitions, particularly for first-generation and underrepresented students. Drawing from her own experience as a post-traditional student, her work aims to improve equity and opportunity in higher education through evidence-based policy recommendations and applied research that bridges theory and practice.

Faith is committed to mentoring undergraduate researchers and peer doctoral students, reflecting her broader interest in supporting pathways for the next generation of scholars.

Learning Engineering Tools Competition 2026 Winner badge Announcement 2026 Tools Competition Post-Secondary Growth Prize Winner

Education

  • PhD in Education (Educational Policy and Social Context), 2028 University of California, Irvine
  • MA in Education, 2025 University of California, Irvine
  • BA in Social Policy and Public Service, 2023 University of California, Irvine

Research Interests

  • Education Policy
  • Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
  • Higher Education
  • College-to-Career Transitions
  • Career Services and Experiential Learning
  • Qualitative and Mixed Methods
  • Computational Text Analysis
  • Institutional and Organizational Contexts in Education
  • First-Generation and Underrepresented Students
  • Applied and Translational Research in Postsecondary Education

Dissertation

“Who Sounds Ready? Social Background, Institutional Context, and Labor Market Returns”

Committee: Richard Arum (Chair), Oded Mcdossi, Nia Nixon, Lauren D. Olsen

The dissertation examines how social background and institutional context shape students’ preparation for professional self-presentation, and whether that unequal preparation reproduces inequality in early career labor market outcomes.

Publications

Manuscripts in Preparation / Under Review

  • Couts, Faith, Oded Mcdossi, and Richard Arum. “The Reality Slap: How Gender and Generation Status Create Divergent Pathways to Career Preparation.” Under review, Sociology of Education.
  • Couts, Faith, Enrique Valencia López, and Danielle Shariff. “Microcosms of the Labor Market: How Universities Sort Students into Specialized vs. Exploratory Co-ops.” Manuscript in preparation.
  • Valencia-Lopez, Eduardo Enrique, Sofia Jaime, Faith Couts, Oded Mcdossi, and Richard Arum. “Does Co-Operative Education Level the College to Career Transition?” Manuscript in preparation.
  • Mcdossi, Oded, Faith Couts, and Richard Arum. “First-Generation College Students and the Hidden Curriculum of Career Preparation.” Manuscript in preparation.

Collaborative Research Reports

  • Arum, Richard, Faith Couts, Oded Mcdossi, and Enrique Eduardo Valencia-Lopez. 2025. Northeastern University Co-op Experiential Workplace Learning Research Report. Unpublished research report. UCI and Northeastern University.
  • Arum, Richard, Oded Mcdossi, Enrique Eduardo Valencia-Lopez, Faith Couts, and Aidan Domondon. 2024. Northeastern University's Co-op Experiential Learning Program: Preliminary Results from Spring 2024 Pilot Research Partnership. Unpublished research report. UCI and Northeastern University.
  • Arum, Richard, Oded Mcdossi, Enrique Eduardo Valencia-Lopez, Faith Couts, and Aidan Domondon. 2024. Northeastern University's Co-op Experiential Learning Program: Summary of the Contribution of the Co-op Preparatory Course. Unpublished report. UCI and Northeastern University.
  • Arum, Richard, Oded Mcdossi, Enrique Eduardo Valencia-Lopez, and Faith Couts. 2024. Improving College-Career Transitions: Project, Phase 1. Unpublished final report to Strada Education Foundation. UCI.
  • Arum, Richard, Oded Mcdossi, and Faith Couts. 2024. Improving College-Career Transitions: Interim Report to Strada Education Foundation. UCI.

Presentations

Select list, most recent first.

  • “Microcosms of the Labor Market: How Universities Sort Students into Specialized vs. Exploratory Co-ops.”
    • Research Committee 28 on Social Stratification and Mobility (RC28), New York, NY. With Enrique Valencia López and Danielle Shariff. August 2026.
    • American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY. With Enrique Valencia López and Danielle Shariff. August 2026.
    • Sociology of Education Association (SEA) Annual Conference, Pacific Grove, CA. With Enrique Valencia López. February 2026.
  • “From College to Career: How Co-ops Shape Initial Labor Market Transitions.” AERA Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA. With Enrique Valencia López (presenter), Oded Mcdossi, and Richard Arum. April 2026.
  • “Divergent Pathways: How Generation Status and Gender Shape College Career Service Engagement.” American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL. With Oded Mcdossi and Richard Arum. August 2025.
  • “First-Generation College Students and the Hidden Curriculum of Career Preparation.” RC28, Los Angeles, CA. With Oded Mcdossi and Richard Arum. August 2025.
  • “Is a Co-op Worth It? College Work-based Learning and Employment Outcomes.” RC28, Los Angeles, CA. With Enrique E. Valencia López, Oded Mcdossi, and Richard Arum. August 2025.
  • “Leveraging Institutional Data to Improve College-to-Career Transitions.”
    • Invited talk, Northeastern University. With Richard Arum, Oded Mcdossi, Enrique Eduardo Valencia-Lopez, and Aidan Domondon. June 2024.
    • Invited talk, Stanford University Pathway Network Seminar. With Richard Arum and Oded Mcdossi. May 2024.

Full list of 2024–2026 talks available on CV.

Teaching

Guest Lectures

  • “What is Service Learning” — Introduction to Education, UCI School of Education (Feb 2026)
  • “Social Structure and Stratification” — Introduction to Education, UCI School of Education (Nov 2025)
  • “Ethical Uses of AI in Social Science Research: Practices and Possibilities” — Sociology of Education, UCI (Apr 2025)

Research Methods Instruction

  • Research Methods Series, Graduate Student Instructor — UCI-MUST Lab (2024–present)

Undergraduate Research Advising

  • Lily Wu, Honors Thesis Advisor. “From Exams to Experience: Reimagining Pathways through Co-op Education among Asian International Students.” Dept. of Sociology, UCI. Recipient, 2025–26 Award for Excellence in Upper-Division Academic Writing in Social Sciences and Social Ecology.

Awards & Honors

  • Learning Engineering Tools Competition 2026 Winner badge Learning Engineering Tools Competition — Growth Prize Grant Winner ($150,000), 2026. “Spark: a student-centered, mobile-first, personalized dashboard.” Co-PI with June Ahn and Richard Arum (PI).
  • Order of Merit, School of Social Science, UCI (2023)
  • Chancellor's Award of Distinction, UCI (2023)
  • Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, UCI (2023)

Service

  • Open Paper Session Reviewer, Sociology of Education Program Committee, ASA 2026 Annual Meeting
  • Ph.D. Faculty Representative & Cohort Representative, Associated Doctoral Students in Education (ADSE)
  • LeadHER Mentor, School of Social Sciences, UCI
  • Graduate Student Peer Mentor, DECADE
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant Mentor, UCI-MUST College-to-Career Project

Full list on CV.