Shani Adia Evans

Shani Adia Evans is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Rice University. Her work focuses on race and racism, urban education, qualitative research methods, and the intersection of space and place. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and Education from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S.Ed. in Education Policy from the same institution, and a B.A. in Anthropology from Amherst College.

Her research explores how Black long-term residents navigate gentrification in historically Black neighborhoods, as detailed in her forthcoming book. She has published on school choice dynamics, educational inequality, and the role of neighborhood contexts in parental decision-making. Her work is supported by grants from the Spencer Foundation, National Science Foundation, and ASA Minority Fellowship Program.

Key themes in her publications include the persistence of anti-Black stereotypes in school choice processes, evaluation biases in educational systems, and the spatial dimensions of urban inequality. Her research bridges macro-level structural forces with micro-level experiences, emphasizing qualitative methodologies to uncover marginalized voices.

Evans has contributed to policy briefs on high school transitions and Philadelphia’s school reforms. She actively engages in antiracist scholarship, addressing how urban policies inadvertently perpetuate racial and class divides.