Mario Suarez
School of Teacher Education and Leadership
Associate Professor

Contact Information
Office Location: EDUC 334Phone: 435-797-0590
Email: mario.suarez@usu.edu
Additional Information:
Educational Background
Licensures & Certifications
Biography
Dr. Suarez (he/el) was born and raised on the Texas-Mexico border. Prior to doctoral work, he taught high school mathematics in Austin, TX. His work has been featured on nprEd and Univision.
Teaching Interests
quantitative methods; queer/trans theory in education; multicultural education foundations
Research Interests
Dr. Suarez's is interested in the intersection of race, gender identity, sexuality, and class, and how binary notions of gender permeate K-12 STEM spaces and curricula. His intersectional research agenda broadly asks: How does our understanding of gender and sexuality shape K-12 educational outcomes for queer and trans individuals? He tries to answer this question through a primarily critical quantitative lens using nationally representative data, though he also draws on qualitative methods when large data is not available. His research in education draws from the fields of sociology, demography, gender studies, and policy studies. His research has been published in top journals such as Educational Researcher, AERA Open, Educational Studies, and Journal of LGBT Youth, among others. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education.
Awards
Outstanding Alumni Early Career Award, 2024
Texas A&M University College of Education and Human Development
Co-Principal Investigator, 2023
Queer and Trans People in Education (QTPiE), University of Vermont
Department Researcher of the Year, 2022
School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Utah State University
Transformative Intersectional Collective (TRIC) Fellow, 2022
Utah Intersections Collective, Utah State University
Faculty Affiliate, 2021
Queer and Trans People in Education (QTPiE), University of Vermont
Invitation to the Transforming Public Education: A Research Agenda Conference, 2019
Rutgers University
Unsung Hero Award, 2018
Office of Graduate and Professional Studies, Texas A&M University
2nd Place Oral Presentation in the Graduate Education and Human Development Category, 2018
Student Research Week, Texas A&M University
Division of Student Affairs Higher Education Award, Higher Education and/or High Impact Learning Research Award, 2018
Student Research Week, Texas A&M University
Invitation to the 1st Annual Intersectional Convening on LGBTQ Youth of Color in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems, 2017
UCLA Williams Institute
Publications | Books
- Suarez, M.I, Mangin, M.M, (2022). Trans studies in K-12 education: Creating an agenda for research and practice. Harvard Education Press
- Suarez, M.I, (2024). Afterword: T* is for thriving: Blueprints for affirming trans* and gender creative lives and learning in schools. Myers Education Press
- Suarez, M.I, (2024). Building the infrastructure for quantitative criticalism in research methods courses: Improving equity in data science: Re-imagining the teaching and learning of data in K-16 classrooms. Routledge
- Knowles, R., Hawkman, A., Suarez, M.I, (2024). Making quant critical: Centralizing critical theories in quantitative social studies research: (Re)Envisioning Social Studies Education Research . Information Age Publishing
- Suarez, M.I, Hawkman, A., Tofel-Grehl, C., MacDonald, B., Searle, K., Feldon, D., Sommers, T., Hernandez, E., (2024). STEM as a cover: Towards a framework for queer emotions, battle fatigue, and STEM identity: Queer Battle Fatigue: Education, exhaustion, and everyday oppressions . Routledge
- Keenan, H.B, Suarez, M.I, (2022). Toward trans studies informed theories and methods: Trans studies in K-12 education: Creating an agenda for research and practice. Harvard Education Press
- Suarez, M.I, Marquez-Velarde, G., Compton, D., Poston, D.L, (2022). Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of the Transgender and Cisgender Populations in the U.S.: Demography of transgender, nonbinary, and gender minority populations. Springer Nature
- Suarez, M.I, Wright, K.B, (2020). A critical approach to teaching data management and analysis categories: Teaching about gender diversity: Teacher-tested lesson plans for K-12 classrooms. Canadian Scholars Press
- Waxman, H.C, Suarez, M.I, Padron, Y.N, (2020). Classroom and school factors that develop high-achieving Latino K-12 students: High-achieving Latino students: Successful pathways toward college and beyond. Information Age Publishing
- Suarez, M.I, (2020). Experiencing queer spaces as a transgender man of color: Home and community for queer men of color: The intersection of race and sexuality. Lexington Books
- Suarez, M.I, (2019). Currere from the borderlands: An exercise in possibilities for Latinx transgender visibility: Latinx Curriculum Theorizing. Lexington Books
Publications | Book Chapters
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- Frederic Jr., A., Fitzgerald-Russell, M., Shelton, W., Suarez, M.I, Garvey, J.C, (2024). Unlocking STEM pathways: Revealing STEM choices and science teachers empowering Black queer students. Education Sciences, 14:11, 1-18. doi: 10.3390/educsci14111254
- Iskander, L., Cook, C., Keenan, H.B, McQuillan, M.T, Suarez, M.I, (2024). “It improved my experience there”: Making space for positive experience in a study with trans educators. Discourse, doi: 10.1080/01596306.2024.2431026
- Hutchinson, B., Shircliff, J.E, Glass, C.M, Miller, G.H, Marquez-Velarde, G., Suarez, M.I, (2024). Analyzing Trans and Nonbinary Workers’ Response to Workplace Discrimination. Work and Occupations, doi: 10.1177/07308884241240079
- Miller, G.H, Marquez-Velarde, G., Suarez, M.I, Glass, C.M, (2024). Support Saves Lives: Exploring the Relationship Between Age of Transition, Family Support, and Retrospective K-12 Educational Experiences in Transgender Suicidality. Transgender Health, 9:2, 118-127. doi: https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2022.0073
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Hawkman, A., Suarez, M.I, MacDonald, B., Searle, K., Feldon, D., (2024). "I can be the weird STEM kid who is also gay": Queer rightful presence in STEM making. Journal of the Learning Sciences, doi: 10.1080/10508406.2024.2409101
- Reale-Smith, C., Suarez, M.I, Mecham, E., (2024). Using mixed methods to explore forms of harassment for K-12 BIPOC trans students. Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education, 1:2, x-xx. doi: 10.60808/nv36-q697
- Suarez, M.I, Keenan, H.B, Cook, C., McQuillan, M.T, Iskander, L., Owis, B., Gallardo-Zamora, D., Glass, C.M, (2024). Union membership, retention, emotional, and physical safety for PK-12 trans school workers of color. Equity & Excellence in Education, 57:4, 1-19. doi: 10.1080/10665684.2024.2394904
- Suarez, M.I, Garvey, J.C, Dolan, C.V, Shaheen, M., (2024). Exploring queer and trans students’ math identity and high school educational experiences. AERA Open, 10:1, 1-19. doi: 10.1177/2332858424
- Aguilar, D.N, Lewis, T., Dizon, J.P, Lo, P., Gonzalez, A., Garvey, J.C, Suarez, M.I, (2024). Oppressive pushout: Examining differences in discipline and “dropout” by race, gender, and sexual orientation. Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education, 1:1, doi: 10.60808/rgg7-9760
- Suarez, M.I, (2024). Problematizing the measurement of gender identity in K-12 education survey research: A systematic review. Educational Studies, 60:1, 68-88. doi: 10.1080/00131946.2023.2248636
- Reale-Smith, C., Suarez, M.I, (2024). LGBTQ+ students’ sense of belonging and harassment: Results from the 2017-2018 School Survey on Crime and Safety. Journal of School Violence, doi: 10.1080/15388220.2024.2318721
- Marquez-Velarde, G., Miller, G.H, Aldana Marquez, B., Schircliff, J.E, Suarez, M.I, (2023). Transgender in detention: Victimization experiences in immigration facilities. Transgender Health, 9:6, 591-600. doi: 10.1089/trgh.2022.0083
- Suarez, M.I, Stackhouse, E., Keese, J., Thompson, C., (2023). A meta-analysis examining the relationship between parents’ sexual orientation and children’s developmental outcomes. Journal of Family Studies, 29:4, 1584-1605. doi: 10.1080/13229400.2022.2060121
- Marquez-Velarde, G., Miller, G.H, Schircliff, J.E, Suarez, M.I, (2023). The impact of family support and rejection on suicide ideation and attempt among transgender adults in the U.S.. LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal , 19:4, 275-287. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/27703371.2023.2192177
- McQuillan, M.T, Iskander, L., Suarez, M.I, Keenan, H.B, “Establishing policy is just one step of twenty”: How educational policy protections, district practices, & leadership matter to trans PK-12 school workers. Teachers College Record, doi: 10.1177/01614681241271574
- Suarez, M.I, Marquez-Velarde, G., Glass, C.M, Miller, G.H, (2022). Cis-normativity at work: Discrimination against U.S. trans workers. Gender in Management: an International Journal , 37:6, 716-731. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-06-2020-0201
- Suarez, M.I, McQuillan, M.T, Keenan, H.B, Iskander, L., (2022). Differences in transgender employees’ and students’ school experiences. Educational Researcher, 51:5, 352-358. doi: 10.3102/0013189X221100834
- Suarez, M.I, (2022). My autohistoria-teoria (trans)formational experience: An autoethnographical case of a transgender BIPOC teacher's experience with racial healing. International Journal of Transgender Health (formerly International Journal of Transgenderism), 23:1-2, 243-254. doi: 10.1080/26895269.2020.1838395
- Suarez, M., Hawkman, A.M, Tofel-Grehl, C., MacDonald, B., Searle, K., Feldon, D., Sommers, T., Hernandez, E., (2022). STEM as a cover: Towards a framework for queer emotions, battle fatigue, and STEM identity. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35:9, 960-979. doi: 10.1080/09518398.2022.2031333
- Suarez, M.I, Asadi, L., Scaramuzzo, P., Slattery, P., Mandala, C.R, (2021). Using photovoice as an arts-based method for grieving: LGBTQ+ students and the Pulse nightclub shooting. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 34:5, 412-428. doi: 10.1080/09518398.2020.1762255
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Searle, K., Hawkman, A., MacDonald, B., Suarez, M.I, (2021). Rural teachers' cultural and epistemic shifts in STEM teaching and learning. Theory and Practice in Rural Education, 11:2, 45-66. doi: 10.3776/tpre.2021.v11n2p45-66
- Kwok, A., Keese, J., Suarez, M.I, Mitchell, D., Huston, D., (2021). Novice teacher vertical professional development? Exploring teachers' and coaches' beliefs throughout a two-year induction program. Learning Environments Research, doi: 10.1007/s10984-021-09360-3
- Suarez, M., Dabney, A.R, Waxman, H.C, Scott, T.P, Bentz, A.O, (2021). Exploring factors that predict STEM persistence at a large, public research university. International Journal of Higher Education, 10:4, 161-174. doi: 10.5430/ijhe.v10n4p161
- Suarez, M.I, (2020). “Bye girl, or bye boy, or whatever you are.”: A Latinx transgender man’s experience with Queer Battle Fatigue in Texas. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 26:2, 230-232. doi: 10.1215/10642684-8141774
- Keese, J., Suarez, M., (2020). Race against time: The effects of principal’s race and time use on teacher perceptions of schools and leadership. NASSP Bulletin, 104:3, 202-219. doi: 10.1177/0192636520957745
- Suarez, M.I, (2019). Resisting erasure: Transgender, gender nonconforming and nonbinary issues in curriculum studies. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 15:3, 259-262. doi: 10.1080/15505170.2018.1549172 *
- Suarez, M.I, Wright, K.B, (2019). Investigating school climate and school leadership factors that impact secondary STEM teacher retention. Journal for STEM Education Research, 2:1, 55-74. doi: 10.1007/s41979-019-00012-z
- Suarez, M.I, Lai Hing, E., Slattery, P., (2018). A brief exercise in currere and bathroom bills. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 15:3, 278-283. doi: 10.1080/15505170.2018.1525449
- Hall, K.K, Suarez, M., Lee, S., Slattery, P., (2017). Currere and prolepsis: A literary analysis. Currere Exchange Journal, 1:1, 101-110.
- Etchells, M.J, Deuermeyer, E., Liles, V.M, Meister, S., Suarez, M.I, Chalklen, W., (2017). White male privilege: An intersectional deconstruction. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 4:2, 13-27. doi: 10.29333/ejecs/78
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Technical Reports
Other Reports
- Arredondo, M.I, Suarez, M.I, (2019). Ecological determinants of child welfare and juvenile justice involvement: A research agenda to reduce system involvement and promote positive outcomes with LGBTQ youth of color impacted by child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The Williams Institute
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
Other
- Suarez, M.I, Marquez-Velarde, G., (2024). Medical Experimentation on Mexican Women: The Encyclopedia of the Chicana and Chicano Movement: From Aztlan to Zapatistas. ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Praeger
- Suarez, M.I, (2024). Zoot Suit Riots: The Chicana and Chicano Movement: From Aztlan to Zapatistas. ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Praeger
- Mangin, M.M, Keenan, H.B, Meyer, E.J, McQuillan, M.T, Suarez, M.I, Iskander, L., (2022). Editors’ introduction: Toward trans studies in K-12 education. Educational Researcher *
- Suarez, M.I, (2021). Trans teachers (K-12): Encyclopedia of Queer Studies in Education. Brill | Sense Publishers
- Suarez, M.I, (2021). Latinx people: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies. SAGE Publications, Inc.
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.