Laura Engel
Laura Engel
Professor of International Education and International Affairs
Full-time Faculty
Programs: MA International Affairs
Contact:
Laura Engel is a Professor of International Education and International Affairs and UNESCO Chair in International Education for Development at the George Washington University. At GW, she serves as Associate Director of the MA in International Affairs (ESIA) and on the faculty of the International Education/Comparative and International Education MA and PhD programs (GSEHD). She is Honorary Professor of International Education Development at University of Nottingham, UK. Dr. Engel is a policy sociologist and comparative education scholar whose research explores global governance, multilateralism and the influence of global policy trends in national and regional education systems worldwide. Her interdisciplinary and international research has been supported by the National Geographic Society, the Spencer Foundation, the American Educational Research Association, and the Stevens Initiative. The author of four books and more than 85 articles, chapters, and policy briefs, she is also a recognized educator, honored with several teaching awards, including the 2022 GW Morton A. Bender Teaching Award. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Costa Rica (2023–2024).
International and comparative education, globalization, policy sociology, education policy, federal systems, Spain/Catalonia
Focused on global education policy trends in federal systems, including national and cross-national studies on global citizenship education.
Ph.D., 2007, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
EDUC 6640: Globalization, Citizenship and Education
EDUC 6640: Education for Global Sustainability
HONR 2047: Ambitious Multilateralism
SEHD 8100/EDUC 6631: Research in International Contexts-Costa Rica
EDUC 6620: Educational Diplomacy and the Internationalization of Policy and Curriculum
BOOKS
Sociological Foundations of Education (Bloomsbury, 2022)
Machinery of School Internationalization in Action (Routledge, 2020)
New State Formations in Education (Sense, 2009)
Globalizing cultural studies: Ethnographic interventions in theory, method, and policy. (Peter Lang, 2007).
SAMPLE OF REFERRED JOURNAL ARTICLES
Lee, D. R., Patabendige, I. E., Wetherby, J., Malik, M., & Engel, L. C. (2025). The global governance of ESD: Cities as critical policy spaces. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development.
Baker, A., & Engel, L. C. (2024). Collaborative cosmopolitan capital in in-service teacher-led K-12 study abroad programs. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 36(2), 1-28. [Comparative and International Education Society SAIS SIG 2025 Best paper award]
Yemini, M., Engel, L. C., & Ben Simon, A. (2023). Place-based education - A systematic review of literature. Educational Review 77(2), 640-660.
Hinshaw, N., Gonzalez, S., & Engel, L. C. (2022). Internationalization of K-12 schooling through virtual exchange: Opportunities in a fractured context. Journal of International Students, 12(3), 2162-3104.
Engel, L. C., & Burch, P. (2021). Policy sociology in the contemporary global era: Continued importance and pressing methodological considerations. Educational Researcher, 50(7), 474-478.
Wallner, J., Savage, G., Hartong, S., & Engel, L. C. (2020). Laboratories, co-producers and venues: Illuminating the varying roles of subnational governments in the formation of standards-based assessments in federations. Comparative Education Review, 64(2), 249-268.
Engel, L. C. & Gibson, H. (2020). Elite making and increasing access to cosmopolitan capital: DC youth experiences in education abroad. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education.
Maxwell, C., Yemini, M., Engel, L. C., & Lee, M. (2020). Cosmopolitan nationalism in the cases of South Korea, Israel and the U.S. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41(2), 845-858.
Engel, L. C., Rutkowski, D., & Thompson, G. (2019). Toward an international measure of global competence? A critical look at PISA 2018 handbook. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 17(2), 117-131.
Engel, L. C., & Frizzell, M. (2015). Competitive comparison and PISA bragging rights: Sub-national uses of the OECD’s PISA in Canada and the US. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.
Engel, L. C. (2014). Citizenship education and national (re)formations: Reflections from Spain. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice.
SAMPLE OF REPORTS
Engel, L. C., & Koumtingue, E. (2022). Citizenship education in the global digital age: Thematic paper. Paris, France: UNESCO.
Engel, L. C. (2017). Underrepresented students in study abroad: Investigating impacts. Washington, DC: Institute of International Education.
Chavatzia, T., Engel, L.C., & Hastedt, D. (2016). Where are the immigrant girls? Perspectives from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). IEA commissioned policy brief.
Watkins, R., Engel, L. C., & Hadsteadt, D. (2015). Is the “net generation” ready for digital citizenship? Perspectives from the IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study. Policy brief: IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study. IEA commissioned policy brief.