Karen Seashore has served as professor of Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota since 1987.

Her primary research interests focus on school improvement and school reform, although she teaches and advises in all areas of educational policy and administration. Her main area of expertise includes improvement in K-12 leadership and policy over the last 30 years, particularly in urban secondary schools. Seashore also conducts research on organizational changes within higher education, with particular attention to faculty roles, and on international comparative policy in educational reform.

As a sociologist, Seashore looks at educational reform through the lens of organizational theory, with an emphasis on the interaction between culture and structure. At the University of Minnesota, she works with both undergraduate minors in leadership, and with graduate students. She particularly enjoys the face-to-face interaction with doctoral students, and helping them refine their areas of research.

Seashore received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Swarthmore College in 1967, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in sociology from Columbia University in 1975.

The author of numerous articles, books, and research studies, she is the co-editor of Leadership for Change and School Improvement (2000) and the author of "A Culture Framework for Education: Defining Quality Values for U.S. High Schools" (2001).