I’m Dr Zuleyka Zevallos; a Peruvian-Australian applied sociologist, living on Wurundjeri Country of the Kulin Nation, in Naarm (Melbourne). I hold a PhD in Sociology and have 20 years’ experience in research, policy and consultancy. I currently work as a principal policy researcher.

I began my career as an academic before joining the public service leading interdisciplinary research teams. I then managed the research team for an environmental health and safety investigation commissioned by the Victorian Government. I worked as a research and social media consultant for a few years. I later developed and implemented a national program to increase gender equity and diversity across higher education and science organisations. I then worked as a contractor and research consultant on gender violence, inclusion, and social movements.

Since 2017, I’ve been working in social policy. I have led large randomised control studies and other research on recidivism, vocational training, education, disability employment, cyber security, COVID-19, and increasing recruitment and retention of women and girls in male-dominated (‘non-traditional’) sectors. More recently, I’ve worked on racial justice policy.

I specialise in analysing issues of gender and sexuality, race and culture, discrimination and diversity in the workplace, social media, health and safety, and interdisciplinary research.

I support the careers of sociology graduates via my not-for-profit Sociology at Work, which I founded in 2009.

Visit my research blog The Other Sociologist.

I’d love to hear from you, please see my commenting policy.

My work is protected by copyright.

My Research Interests

• Communities: social identities, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, religion, class, nationality, disability, youth sub-cultures
• Culture: migrants, multiculturalism, discrimination, social cohesion, socio-economic mobility, resettlement of refugees
• Media analysis: target audiences, media literacy, website analysis, social marketing, discourse analysis
• Social Media: blogging, online social movements, public science
• Education and training: vocational training, apprentices and trainees, pre-service teachers, intercultural communication, community development
• Health: accessibility, environmental health and safety, COVID-19, public health policy
• Business: online practices of small businesses, diversity and inclusion policies and practices, training and development
• Political issues: politically motivated violence, national security, counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, cyber security
• Social theory: social constructionism, ethnomethodology, feminism, postcolonialism, intersectionality
• Qualitative methods: in-depth interviewing, behavioural analysis, cultural assessments, ethnography, data management, ethics
• Quantitative methods: use of social theory to interpret Census data and social surveys, sociology in interdisciplinary social modelling.

In my Other Life, I am…

• An Avid Fashionista, especially of vintage and retro threads;
• A Movie Aficionado, especially of indie, international and horror films;
• Book Worm;
• Tireless Dancer;
• Art Fanatic;
• Pop Culture Tragic and Connoisseur of out-dated cultural references.

To read more about the purpose of my website and a super riveting disclaimer, click here.