Bianca J. Baldridge

Bianca J. Baldridge is an associate professor in the department of educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. As a sociologist of education, Dr. Baldridge explores the socio-political context of community-based youth work and afterschool education. Dr. Baldridge’s research critically examines the confluence of race, class, and gender, and how they impact educational reforms that shape community-based spaces that engage Black and Latinx youth in the U.S. She explores the organizational and pedagogical practices employed by youth workers amid neoliberal education restructuring. Dr. Baldridge’s book, Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work, examines how market-based reforms (with their emphasis on privatization and accountability), race, and paternalism work together to undermine Black community-based organizations’ efforts to support comprehensive youth development opportunities. Her book received the 2019 American Educational Studies Association Critic’s Choice Book Award. With the support of the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship program, Dr. Baldridge studied how, in predominantly white cities that espouse a liberal and progressive ethos, racial discourse shapes community-based spaces that engage Black youth.

Dr. Baldridge serves on the Out-of-School Time Special Interest Group’s executive leadership team within the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Baldridge recently completed a residency with the Spencer Foundation, where she created and facilitated a webinar entitled “Lifting Up Youth Work Amid State Violence and Global Pandemic: Supporting Young People, Youth Workers, and Community-based Educational Spaces.” The webinar featured leading scholars and community-based leaders in OST. Her current research examines how Black community-based youth organizations and youth workers respond to city change and displacement fueled by gentrification and neoliberal education restructuring. She is also co-leading a national study on equity and the out-of-school time sector for the Wallace Foundation. Dr. Baldridge regularly facilitates professional development opportunities for youth workers and community-based leaders throughout the country.

Dr. Baldridge’s research is featured in the American Educational Research Journal, Review of Research in Education, Teachers College Record, Educational Researcher, and Race, Ethnicity, and Education. Her background as a youth worker informs her scholarship in profound ways.