Walter G. Ecton is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Florida State University. Dr. Ecton’s research lies at the intersections between high school, higher education, and the workforce, and the pathways students take as they navigate those sectors. His work primarily focuses on students who take nontraditional pathways through education, with particular focuses on high school students in career and technical education, students who attend community college, and students who return to education later in life. He aims to produce work that can inform local, state, and federal policy decisions, and that shines light on the importance of equitable access to high quality educational opportunities for all students.

Professor Ecton’s research uses large administrative datasets at the state and federal levels to explore educational and labor market outcomes from students’ participation in education programs. He has been published in journals including Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (EEPA), AERA Open, The Journal of Higher Education, Oxford Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, and the Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, among others, and presents research regularly at the Association for Education Finance and Policy, the Association for Public Policy and Management, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, and the Association for Career and Technical Education Research. His research has been highlighted by news outlets including the Hechinger Report, Education Week, Voice of America, and the Washington Post.

Prior to joining the faculty at Florida State University, Dr. Ecton was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and received his PhD from Vanderbilt University. He previously worked in new business development for an education technology firm, and as a high school social studies teacher in Atlanta Public Schools.