Dr. Katherine Hughes is the Assistant Director for Work and Education Reform Research at the Community College Research Center and the Institute on Education and the Economy (IEE), Teachers College, Columbia University. She received her doctorate from Columbia University's Sociology Department in 1995. Her doctoral dissertation was a study of wives who play a role in the careers of their husbands, focusing on American diplomats' wives; titled The Accidental Diplomat (Aletheia Publications, Inc.), it was published in 1999. She has taught sociology courses at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York University, and Columbia University, as well as a graduate seminar on work-based learning (with Thomas Bailey) at Teachers College. She also currently serves on the New York City Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education.

Since joining IEE/CCRC in October 1995, Dr. Hughes has led and conducted research on education reform and on changes in the nature of work. Her recent work focuses on the potential of credit-based transition programs (such as dual enrollment) for preparing under-achieving youth for college.  Previous research projects have centered on the national school-to-work initiative, employer involvement in high schools, work-based learning, the restructuring of New York City’s vocational high schools, and career academies. Dr. Hughes’ research has increasingly focused on state policies, in particular examining how such policies influence the high school to college transition and access to college generally. Dr. Hughes’ publications include Working Knowledge: Work-Based Learning and Education Reform (with Bailey and Moore; from RoutledgeFalmer Press); “Business Partnerships for American Education” (with Karp and Orr; Journal of Vocational Education and Training), “School-to-Work: Making a Difference in Education” (with Bailey and Karp; Phi Delta Kappan); and Credentials, Curriculum, and Access: The Debate over Nurse Preparation (with Karp and Jacobs; Community College Press).