About
Emily F. Gates, Ph.D., is an evaluation scholar, practitioner, and associate professor at Boston College. Her scholarship explores how evaluation can help people understand the complexity of problems and influence systemic change, focusing on systems thinking, values, and equity. In recognition of her contributions to the evaluation field, Dr. Gates received an early career award in 2023 naming her a promising new evaluator from the American Evaluation Association.
Recent scholarly accomplishments include co-editing the book Evaluating and Valuing in Social Research (with Thomas Schwandt, Guilford Press); co-editing issue 170 of New Directions for Evaluation, which features international cases of systems- and complexity-informed evaluation; and leading a mixed methods study on equity in evaluation practice in New England, U.S.
Dr. Gates has 12+ years of experience working on mixed-method evaluations in K-12 schooling, higher education, STEM education, and public health. She teaches graduate courses in systems and program evaluation, evaluation theory, mixed methods research, and theory of change and offers professional development workshops and webinars by consultation.
Her educational background includes formal training in evaluation and systems science. She has a Ph.D. in evaluation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed systems training from the Open University in Systems Thinking in Practice, Santa Fe Institute for Complex Systems, and the International Society for Systems Science. Before working in academia, she completed a postdoctoral evaluation fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She lives in Boston, MA, with her partner and dog.