Professor Pate, a former practicing social worker, conducts research projects involving the use of qualitative research methods to examine the life circumstances of non-custodial fathers with children on welfare and their interaction with their children, their experience with the child support enforcement system, and the impact of adverse childhood experiences on the well-being of African American adult males. He has appeared in The New York Times, Milwaukee Sentinel, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, NPR, WUWM (Milwaukee NPR affiliate), Wisconsin Public Radio, WNYC (New York NPR affiliate), and The Jim Lehrer Report (PBS Newshour).