Quan Nguyen

MSW, PhD

Affiliations

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Faculty of Social Work

Contact information

quan.nguyen@ucalgary.ca

Web presence

Faculty website

Background

Educational Background

PhD, Social Work, University of Calgary, 2025

Master, Social Work, Vietnam National University of Hanoi, Vietnam, 2014

Bachelor, Social Work, Vietnam National University of Hanoi, Vietnam, 2010

Biography

I am a social work educator, practitioner, and researcher who earned a PhD in Social Work from the University of Calgary, with professional and academic experience in Canada and Vietnam. I have extensive experience in teaching, research, and community collaboration, having designed and facilitated numerous capacity-building initiatives to strengthen professional practice among social workers and community practitioners. Over the past decade, I have led and contributed to more than twenty research projects, partnering with academic, professional, and community organizations to address complex social issues such as gender inequality, domestic violence, and sexual harassment. My work has informed program development, service delivery, and progressive policy initiatives that promote gender equity, social inclusion, and community resilience. My research, publications, and practice focus on youth crime prevention, youth development, community practice, participatory action research, and critical criminology. I integrate qualitative and quantitative methodologies in my research and am proficient in NVivo, IBM SPSS, and RStudio for data analysis.

Research

Areas of Research

Youth Crime Prevention, Youth Development, Community Practice, Participatory Action Research, Critical Criminology, Teaching and Learning in Highger Education

Courses

Course number	Course title	Semester
SOWK201	Foundations of the Social Work Profession/Introduction to Social Work	Winter, Spring, & Fall 2024; Winter & Fall 2025, Winter, Summer, Block Week in Fall, & Fall 2026; Winter 2027
SOWK322	Social Work Research	Winter & Spring 2026

Projects

Understanding and Addressing Youth Crime in Vietnam: Insights into Experiences of Youth with Past Offence

Doctoral Study, 2021-2024, Co-Investigator

Young Canadian Adults in Multiculturalism: Navigating Developments and Challenges in Social Integration

Concurrent Projects, Analyzing General Social Survey Series, 2020-2024, Principal Investigator

Comparative Analysis of Youth Crime Discourse in Vietnamese and Canadian News Media

Ongoing, 2022-2024, Principal Investigator

Awards

Sessional Travel Award, University of Calgary. 2025
Kamrudin Mithani International Graduate Student Scholarship, University of Calgary. 2025
James Gripton Doctoral Scholarship in Social Work, University of Calgary. 2025
Congress Travel Award, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. 2024
TUCAN Fellowship, Innovate Calgary, University of Calgary. 2022
Faculty Scholarship Award, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. 2019
Eyes High Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship (2017-2020), University of Calgary. 2017
Vietnamese Government Scholarship to Study Abroad (Awarded, not accepted), Project 911. 2016

Publications

Victimization, Discrimination, Community Belonging, and Confidence in the Police among Young Adults in Canada: A Trauma-Informed Analysis. Quan Huu Nguyen, Hieu Van Ngo. British Journal of Criminology. In-Press. (2026)
Perceived Discrimination and Sense of Community Belonging among Canadian Young Adults: A Population-based Study. Quan Huu Nguyen, Hieu Van Ngo, Yeonjung Lee. Canadian Ethnic Studies. 57(1). 1-27. (2025)
Experienced Victimization and Confidence in the Police among Young Canadian Adults. Quan Huu Nguyen, Hieu Van Ngo, Yeonjung Lee. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice. 66(3). 89-118. (2024)
Integrating Participatory Action Research and Photovoice as Mixed Methods: Synergies, Tensions, and Implications for Social Work. Quan Huu Nguyen, Hieu Van Ngo. Transformative Social Work. 2(2). 1-22. (2024)
Strain Theories and Labelling Theories: A Critical Examination through an Anti-Oppressive Lens. Quan Huu Nguyen, Hieu Van Ngo. Critical Social Work. 22(1). 76-91. (2021)

In the News

Canada has a youth ‘belonging’ problem and this social researcher wants to help. University of Calgary. (2024)
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences - Young Canadian Adults Lack a Sense of Community Belonging: This Calgary Researcher has a Solution. Education News Canada. (2024)
Congress in the news/July 2024 Communiqué. Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. (2024)
Seeing the unhoused and racialized youth as neighbours creates inclusive communities. rabble.ca. (2024)