Editorial and Introduction Available to Purchase

Madhunika Suresh-Mueller (she/they), PhD, is the current Book Reviews Editor for the Departures in Critical Qualitative Research journal. Madhunika is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department and an adjunct in the Human Relations Department at the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests explore the intersections of international student success, Queer, Transnational Feminism, Desi/South Asian experiences, and DEIB policies in higher education in research and teaching pedagogies drawing from interdisciplinary frameworks such as Queer, Transnational Feminism, Intersectional Feminism, Par/Des(i), and de/colonizing qualitative methodologies.

Kristy Girardeau is a PhD candidate at Georgia State University where she studies Teaching and Learning with a concentration in Language and Literacy. Her research focuses on understanding how young Black girls develop their ethnic-racial identities in a collaborative space. She uses critical theories and qualitative methods to study the writing, digital literacy, and critical literacy practices of Black girls.

Kayla Maxey, PhD, is an educational researcher, STEM consultant, and former biomedical engineer whose work focuses on equity-centered institutional transformation in Career and Technical Education (CTE) and STEM fields. She leads Innovate STEM Consulting, partnering with educational institutions, state agencies, and nonprofits to advance inclusive workforce development. Dr. Maxey’s research includes National Science Foundation–funded projects exploring the cultural reproduction of institutional structures and the impact of identity-based student organizations on leadership, belonging, and systemic change in engineering education. Her work bridges critical ethnography, policy reform, and community-based approaches to dismantle barriers for historically marginalized learners.