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The Gateway Cities Project

The Gateway Cities Project is the short name given to the 4 year SSHRC insight grant entitlted "Widening Post-secondary Access Pathways of Marginalized Youth in Gateway Cities."

The project includes five major urban centres in which the research team will examine the determinants of post-secondary pathways for high school students.The urban sites selected are based upon the characteristic of the city as being a "gateway city" for recent immigrants, and the availability of large-scale data on recent secondary students and their PSE participation. Marginalized student groups identified in the research literature include: those with special needs, underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, recent immigrants and lower socioeconomic status groups. The gateway cities selected provide meaningful national and international comparisons of equity issues that relate to the student groups selected and provide us with the opportunity to examine their access to and participation in PSE. The Gateway Cities Project is very much a continuation of a previous SSHRC ("Postsecondary Pathways Project") on which Paul Anisef was Principal Investigator.

Our project brings together teams located in 5 cities:

  1. Toronto, Ontario
  2. Vancouver, British Columbia
  3. Chicago, Illinois
  4. New York, New York
  5. London, UK

Toronto Team

photo of Karen Robson

Karen Robson


Associate Professor | Ontario Research Chair in Educational Achievement and At-Risk Youth

photo of Paul Anisef

Paul Anisef


Professor Emeritus, Sociology, York University

photo of Robert S. Brown

Robert S. Brown


Research Co-ordinator, Toronto District School Board.

photo of Carl James

Carl James


Director of the York Centre for Education and Community, Professor, Faculty of Education, York University.

photo of Rhonda George

Rhonda George


PhD Candidate, Sociology, York University.

photo of Roula Anastasakos

Roula Anastasakos


Executive Superintendent of Education at Toronto District School Board.

photo of Chris Conley

Chris Conley


Researcher, Durham District School Board.

photo of Alice Romo

Alice Romo


MA Socio-Legal Studies

photo of Reana Maier

Reana Maier


Post-doctoral Scholar

Vancouver Team

photo of Annette Henry

Annette Henry


Professor, Department of Language and Literacy, University of British Columbia.

photo of Bob Sweet

Bob Sweet


Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Education, Lakehead University.

photo of Maria Trache

Maria Trache


Associate Professor - Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Texas at Arlington.

Chicago Team

photo of Jenny Nagaoka

Jenny Nagaoka


Deputy Director of the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research.

New York City

London Team

photo of Ann Hodgson

Ann Hodgson


Professor of Education (PhD), Director, Learning for London @ IOE, Co-Director of the Centre for Post-014 Research and Innovation, Institute of Education.