Dr. Means is an Adjunct Associate Professor in Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy. Additionally, he is the Executive Director for Rural and Community-Based Education in the School of Education. He earned his PhD in Educational Research and Policy Analysis with a concentration in Higher Education from North Carolina State University.
Prior to joining the School of Education faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, he was an associate professor of college student affairs administration at the University of Georgia, and prior to that he was an administrator for Elon University’s Elon Academy, a college access and success program for students with a financial need and/or no family history of college.
Dr. Means uses critical, asset-based, participatory approaches to examine postsecondary education access and success for rural students, Black students, students from low-income backgrounds, and first-generation college students; racial and spatial equity in science and medicine; and the postsecondary education experiences of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer students.
Dr. Means teaches courses in the higher education programs. He often implements art-based and problem-based approaches to enhance the learning environment.
Hallmark, T., Ardoin, S., & Means, D. R. (Eds.). (in press). Race & rurality: Considerations for advancing higher education equity. Routledge.
Breeden, R., Means, D. R., Beckham, M., Rose, H., Walls, C., Idehen, O., Marshall, B., & Stanton, J. (2023). Black women, white coats: Black women undergraduate students’ persistence to pursue healthcare careers. Journal of Women and Minorities in Engineering and Science, 29(4), 55-78.
Means, D. R., Stanton, J., Mekonnen, B., Oni, O., Breeden, R., Babatola, O., Osondu, C., Beckham, M., & Marshall, B. (2022). A deeper calling: The aspirations and persistence of Black undergraduate students in science at a predominantly white institution. The Review of Higher Education, 46(2), 151-180.
Boettcher, M. L., Lange, A., Hanks, S., & Means, D. R. (2022). Rural Black and Latinx students: Engaging community cultural wealth in higher education. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 38(1), 1-15.
Azano, A. P., & Means, D. R. (2022). Rethinking equity and justice in rural organizations: Implications for policy and practice. The Rural Educator, 43(1), 110-114.
Stanton, J., Means, D. R., Babatola, O., Osondu, C., Oni, O., & Mekonnen, B. (2022). Drawing on internal strengths and creating spaces for growth: How Black science majors navigate the racial climate at a predominantly white institution to succeed. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 21(1), 1-20.
Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Kristin Ray; Additional Co-Researchers: Nick Szoko, Loreta Matheo), Supporting Black Aspiring Pediatricians in Supporting Black Youth Interested in Health Careers, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital, 2023-2025, Grant total: $25,000.
Principal Investigator (Co-PI: Collette Chapman-Hilliard), Investigating Postsecondary Education Access and Choice for Rural Black Students using a Participatory Mixed Methods Approach, Spencer Foundation, 2021-2023, Grant total: $49,906.
