Gopaul’s research interests focus on the experiences of graduate students and the changing nature of faculty life and work. He employs 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 labor. His previous research has focused on the socialization of doctoral students in different disciplines. Currently, his research emphasizes student mobility, conceptions of civic engagement to academic life and work, and international higher education. Specifically, he explores mobility among doctoral students and early-career faculty members moving through doctoral study and into the academic profession. His interest in civic engagement focuses on graduate/doctoral education and broader reward structures within faculty work. Finally, his focus on international higher education has examined Canada, the U.S., Kazakhstan, and Morocco, and continues in these jurisdictions and others.
