Florence Ran

Florence Ran is a postdoctoral research associate at the Community College Research Center (CCRC), where she conducts quantitative and qualitative research on higher education policy. One strand of Ran’s research focuses on instructor quality in postsecondary education institutions and the implications of a more diversified academic labor force. This includes the impacts of contingent faculty on student academic and labor market outcomes, the impacts of faculty professional development, and the impacts of female faculty and faculty of color. She also conducts research to examine the impacts of various educational pathways, programs, interventions, and instructional practices on students’ course performance, persistence, degree completion, and labor market outcomes.

Ran earned a PhD in economics and education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also holds an MA in economic policy analysis from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a BA in economics from Renmin University of China. Prior to joining CCRC, Ran worked as a quantitative research assistant at the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research.