David Ulises Vargas Ezquivel (he/they/él)
Ph.D. in Education
David Vargas (He/They/Él) is an immigrant and first-generation Ph.D. candidate in the School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is expected to graduate in 2027. He was born and raised in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, México.
His research interests include Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice (EDIJ) in Higher Education, Campus Climate Assessments, and Education Policy. He is currently most interested in how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) enact servingness.
He received his M.A. in HEOC at UCLA and is a UC Davis alum with a B.S. in Human Development, a B.A. in Spanish, and dual minors in Education & Chicanxs Studies.
Degree Program
Expected Graduation Year
Interests
- Advanced Qualitative Methods
- Education Policy
- Higher Education
- Organizational Change
- Race and Ethnic Studies
Faculty Advisor
Education
-
B.S. & B.A. University of California, Davis, 2021
-
M.A. University of California, Los Angeles, 2022
Select Publications
-
Hurtado, S., Noel, N. A. J., Almora Rios, M. A., Carrasco, A., Sims, J. S., Vargas Ezquivel, D. U., Cortez Bravo, D. A., Granados, J., & Aragon, G. G. (2026). Challenging Journeys and Empowering Strategies for Navigating Towards Advancement to Candidacy. In D. Teodorescu (Ed.), Dissertation Completion in Educational Leadership: Program Structure, Collaboration, and Experiences (pp. 1-30). IGI Global Scientific Publishing.
- Hurtado, Sylvia, Gabriel Gutierrez Aragon, and David Ulises Vargas Ezquivel, ‘Advancing Individual and Community Well-Being Through Transformational Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion’, in Louis Tay, and Beth M McCuskey (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being in Higher Education, First Edition, Oxford Handbooks (New York, NY, 2026; online edn, Oxford Academic, 15 June 2026).