Blog Post
We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Bryan Gopaul. Dr. Gopaul was Assistant Professor in the Warner School of Education and Human Development, and a valued member of the CCA’s Expert Panel on the Labour Market Transition of PhD Graduates. He made significant and important contributions to the panel and the report, Degrees of Success.
Dr. Gopaul’s research focused on the experiences of graduate students and the changing nature of faculty life and work. He employed critical theories of education and qualitative methodologies to explore issues of access and equity in graduate education, the employment of graduate students, the pipeline to the professoriate, and academic labour. His research sought to examine the experiences of post-doctoral researchers, links between faculty mobility and institutional leadership, and civic engagement priorities at research universities. As the son of a former teacher who experienced significant racism in the classroom and in the broader educational system, Gopaul explored issues of equity, privilege, and hierarchy in various educational contexts.
Dr. Gopaul was a native of Toronto, Ontario, and was educated at the University of Toronto, completing his Hons. B.Sc. at U of T Mississauga-Erindale College, and his M.Ed., and PhD at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he collaborated with colleagues in the United States and Kazakhstan, exploring higher education reform in relation to governance as well as financial aid and student mobility.
He was a wonderful colleague and friend and will be deeply missed. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and colleagues.