Shaun M. Dougherty

Professor of Education & Policy, Boston College

I study how schools translate public investment into economic opportunity, and for whom.

About

Shaun M. Dougherty is Professor of Education & Policy at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education & Human Development, where he chairs the Department of Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment. His research asks how schools translate public investment into economic opportunity, and for whom. Using causal research designs and administrative data from multiple states, he has produced much of the recent evidence on the effects of career and technical education on graduation, college-going, and earnings, including for students with disabilities, and on the teachers, costs, and accountability systems that shape those outcomes. He also studies school choice and Catholic education, and he directs Boston College’s Catholic Education Research Initiative.

He co-leads the IES-funded Career and Technical Education Research Network and served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Education (2024–25). He is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), an associate editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, a member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Education Finance and Policy, and former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. Before his academic career he taught high school mathematics. He holds an Ed.D. from Harvard and a B.S. in mathematics and economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Quick links

•     CV (PDF)

•     Google Scholar

•     NBER profile

•     EdWorkingPapers

•     Boston College faculty page

•     X / Twitter: @doughesm