Dr. Ángel de Jesus González, an assistant professor at Fresno State’s Kremen School of Education and Human Development, has been named a 2025 Equity and Inclusion Young Professional Fellow by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. The fellowship, awarded to only five professionals each year, supports individuals from underrepresented backgrounds who have earned their master’s or doctoral degrees within the past five years. González will receive the award at a research conference in November.
González joins fellows from institutions such as UC Irvine, Rice University, and Texas A&M. This recognition follows two other national fellowships González received last year: the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Faculty Fellowship and the Education Policy Fellowship Program Fellowship.
González’s academic journey began as a first-generation college student at Whittier College, where they studied environmental science and Spanish. While there, González became involved in advocacy work aimed at improving conditions for both students and staff. Reflecting on this experience, González said, “A lot of the involvement that I was in was because of the opportunity to lead, but really the opportunity to lead change. If you think about my commitment to organizational change, where it began was as a student, where I was part of these roles.”
A mentor encouraged González to pursue a career in higher education administration, leading them to earn a master’s degree in post-secondary educational leadership from San Diego State University. After graduation, González held positions at Pacific Lutheran University and Shoreline Community College in Washington before returning to California in 2019 to become director of student development at Grossmont College while completing a doctorate in educational leadership.
In 2022, González worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Southern California’s Pullias Center for Higher Education on a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focused on systemic change. They joined Fresno State as an assistant professor in fall 2023.
González said their decision to join Fresno State was intentional: “I was very intentional in looking at institutions [where] the students’ demographics mirrored the research communities that I work with, and then my own experiences. I knew HEAL as a program, because I worked in student affairs. It had a reputation for producing amazing scholar-practitioners who work in the field of higher education. Not just in the state, but nationally.”
González has published extensively on topics related to belonging among queer, trans, and Latinx students at community colleges and Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Their recent study in the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education found that visible symbols such as rainbow stickers and pride flags can provide queer and transgender students with “at least a small sense of hope or relief.” However, the study also found that students themselves are often responsible for creating these visible signs of inclusion and expressed interest in deeper institutional changes.
Another recent article co-authored by González and published in the Journal of Higher Education examines how colleges can maintain diversity and inclusion efforts in restrictive legal environments. The authors suggest moving beyond traditional models centered around specific offices or roles and instead embedding equity work throughout campus operations. As González explained, “If that office shuts down or that person gets let go, does that mean that that student is no longer at the campus, that their support is no longer needed? No, it’s actually needed more than ever.”
The authors recommend shifting language away from terms like “diversity” or “inclusion” toward words such as “opportunity,” “fairness,” or “student success” when discussing these efforts.
Despite ongoing budget challenges facing the California State University system, González remains committed to researching how minoritized students can feel more included in higher education settings. Additional articles and book chapters are under review, and González is collaborating with students for presentations at upcoming conferences.
