Nicholas Vargas
Nicholas Vargas is Associate Professor of Chicanx/Latinx Studies in UC Berkeley’s Department of Ethnic Studies, where he coordinates the Chicanx Latinx Studies Program and co-leads the Latinxs and Democracy Cluster. Drawing primarily on nationally representative data, he studies ethnoracial classification, identification, and stratification, including racial boundaries, contested identities, and Latina/o/x experiences in higher education. His research examines individual and organizational dimensions of racialization. With colleagues, he developed a framework distinguishing identification, ascription, and structural racism as dimensions that can operate in misalignment (Annual Review of Sociology, 2025). He also considers how race data can be critically used to identify and address systemic and structural racism.
Recent public-facing research with the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute analyzed the economic consequences of immigration enforcement raids in Los Angeles. Vargas previously served on the U.S. Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee and co-directed Berkeley’s Latino Social Science Pipeline Initiative. Before joining Berkeley in 2023, he was Associate Professor of Sociology and Coordinator of Latino Studies at the University of Florida, where he led the state’s only graduate specialization in Latino Studies. He began his academic career at the University of Texas at Dallas.
