DrRosalyn (Ros) Black

My research interests meet at the intersection of the sociologies of education and youth. My research investigates the nature of academic imaginaries and identities in the contemporary university, including the ways in which emotions such as nostalgia, joy, and anxiety shape the way academics perceive their work in an increasingly complex sector. 

My research also investigates how young people, especially those in marginalised positions, engage as citizens within modern social and economic contexts. It examines how young people experience their present lives and imagine their futures in precarious times and places. 

My research draws on poststructuralist perspectives to critically analyse these issues and to deepen understanding and inform policy and practice within the education and youth sectors.

I have contributed to the global growth of youth studies through my extensive publications as well as my roles as member of the editorial board of the highly regarded Journal of Youth Studies and founding co-editor of the relaunched Journal of Applied Youth Studies. The Journal of Youth Studies is a Q1 journal, and the Journal of Applied Youth Studies was awarded Q1 status at the end of my time as co-editor.

I have held Visiting Scholar roles at two international universities. I have shared my research at multiple national and international conferences and have appeared in the media in relation to my research. I have also served as an expert reviewer for Australian and international journals as well as competitive grant application panels. 

My publications include books, chapters in edited collections and papers in high-ranking journals. My most recent books with my colleagues are Rethinking Youth Citizenship after the Age of Entitlement (Bloomsbury Academic 2018), Imagining Youth Futures: University Students in Post-Truth Times (Springer 2019) and Young People in Digital Society: Control Shift (Palgrave Macmillan 2019). I have co-edited two international collections as well as serving as section co-editor for the prestigious Handbook of Children and Youth Studies (Springer 2022). As part of my editorial role with the Journal of Applied Youth Studies, I also served as Managing Editor for a special issue of the journal.

I also have a track record of leadership and engagement in collaborative research projects that bring together Deakin University and other academics to explore key issues within contemporary education and youth studies. My most recent research projects include:

• Practices, spaces and places for wellbeing in the academy. With Kerri Garrard, Shelley Hannigan, Robin Bellingham & Elizabeth Little (2025-current)

• Young people and micro-credentials for sustainable, regenerative and just futures: Developing a business case. With Peter Kelly, Luke Howie, Seth Brown, James Goring & Eve Mayes (2023-2024)

• Imagined academic futures: the temporalities of the move to online teaching. Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) Fellowship with Margaret Bearman, Rola Ajjawi and Ceridwen Owen (2022-2024)

• Critical Times: Producing the Global Graduate in a Pandemic. Australia-New Zealand research project with Kerri Garrard, Matthew Krehl Edward Thomas, Bronwyn E. Wood, Lucas Walsh, Margaret Bearman and Juliana Ryan and in collaboration with Nadia Infantes (2020-2023).