Overview
Mia Ocean, PhD, LSCSW is the MSW Program Director and an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work. Dr. Ocean has worked as a faculty member across the U.S. Regardless of her geographic location, she takes risks to expand higher education and actively works to elevate students' learning, financial health, and well-being.
In her scholarship, Dr. Ocean engages policy stakeholders in the evaluation process. Her anti-oppressive, community-accountable research has been covered in the Washington Post and has informed evidence-based, equitable transformation at the organizational, state, and federal levels.
Above all, Dr. Ocean prioritizes people and infuses humor and joy to ensure life-long justice work remains sustainable (and hilarious).
Information
Anti-Oppressive Critical Participatory Action Research
Access and Equity in Higher Education
Humor in Justice Focused Work
SCWK 851 Applied Social Work Research
SCWK 860 Advanced Generalist Practice Administrating Organizations and Communities
SCWK 789 The Analysis and Application of Humor Across Contexts
Publications
Mohajeri, O., Breeden, R. L., & Ocean, M. (Eds.) (2025). Critical participatory action research in higher education: For us by us. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/%20%20%20Critical-Participatory-Action-Research-in-Higher-Education-For-Us-By-Us/Mohajeri-Breeden-Ocean/p/book/9781032743394?srsltid=AfmBOorex1JKFFeCjxyEvEcAVpCe%20%20%20Ad0tuv2h6eUXHwGIYbchA7F_YOHk
Hicks, K., Jamison, Z., Montgomery, R., & Ocean, M. (2025). Black MSW students’ experiences at a historically and predominantly white university: A participatory qualitative investigation. Social Work Education, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2025.2465461
Ocean, M. & Gordon, D. A. (2024). The benefit, harm and complication of humor in social work: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Social Work, 24(4), 488 510. https://doi.org/10.1177/14680173241240977
Ocean, M. (2024). The potential of humor to joyously dismantle ableism+: Considerations for social workers. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 51(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.4720
Ocean, M. & Gordon, D. A. (2024). The benefit, harm and complication of humor in social work: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Social Work, 24(4), 488 510. https://doi.org/10.1177/14680173241240977
Spencer, E. N., Ocean, M., Saboe, M., Condliffe, S., & Hazen, K. (2023). “We service the taxpayers and families where others do not”: A rural community college typology. Community College Journal of Research and Practice,48(9), 541–556. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2023.2192701
Gordon, D., Posadas, J., Cipriano, B., Parker, A., & Ocean, M. (2022). Incarceration-based educational opportunities: Transforming students, families, the college, and communities. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 47(8), 560-563. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2022.2064377
Ocean, M., Montgomery, R., Jamison, Z., Hicks, K., & Thorne, S., (2022). Exploring the expansive properties of interpretive description: An invitation to anti-oppressive researchers. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221103665
Ocean, M. (2021). Telework during COVID-19: Exposing ableism in U.S. higher education. Disability & Society, 36(9), 1543-1548. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2021.1919505
Ocean, M. (2021). Academically eligible and ineligible Pell Grant community college students:A qualitative investigation. Community College Review, 49(2), 156-176. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552120982010
Presentations
Ocean, M., Warren Glenn, L., Huger-Burton, T., & Kiki. (2025, October). Anti-Oppressive community-engaged research following the principles of disability justice. Council for Social Work Education Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
Ocean, M., Jamison, Z., Montgomery, R., Hicks, K., & Thorne, S. (2025, January). Enacting equity values in higher education through an anti-oppressive interpretive description methodology. Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, HI.
Warren Glenn, L., Huger-Burton, T., Carroll, T., Ocean, M., Montas, N., Plummer, J., Prince, T., Young, D., Spencer, E. N., Williams, K., & Minch, V. (2024, January). Community-Based participatory policy analysis: Investigating the impacts of Pennsylvania’s clean slate legislation. Society For Social Work & Research Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
2025-2026 Project title: Exploring the Evidence: Can Humor Retain Social Workers and Elevate Their Practice? Wichita State University, Hope Seed Grant (Research Grant: $9,995). Principal Investigator.
2025-2026 Project title: Maximizing Government-Community Partnerships to Expand the Kansas Social Work Pipeline. Wichita State University, State of Kansas Applied Learning Funds (Practice Grant: $150,000). Co-Principal Investigator/Director (all Co-PIs).
2025 Project title: Innovative University-Government-Community Partnerships to Transform Historically Unpaid Social Work Practicums into Compensated Applied Learning Experiences. Wichita State University, State of Kansas Applied Learning Funds (Practical Grant: $481,200). Co-Principal Investigator/Director (all Co-PIs).
The Squeaky Wheel, Contributing Writer, https://thesqueakywheel.org/author/miaoceania/
Sedgwick County/City of Wichita Access Advisory Board, Chair
International Journal of Qualitative Methods, Editorial Review Board Member