AAHHE Outstanding Dissertation Competition Winner History 2023-2008
For the winners of the 2024 AAHHE Outstanding Dissertation Competition, please click here.
2023
First Place
Rosalinda Godinez, PhD Sociology Lecturer Hartnell College
Dissertation Title: Mexicana/Latina Campesinas Cultivating Knowledge: A Collective Agricultural Land-Based Education in Central Washington State in the Homelands of Yakama Nation
Degree Discipline: Education
Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Second Place Winner
Roberto C. Orozco, PhD Presidential Postdoctoral Associate University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Dissertation Title: Aquí entre nos: Identity and socio-political consciousness development of queer Latinx/a/o college student activists through the Muxerista activist consciousness development framework
Degree Discipline: Higher Education
Degree Granting Institution: Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Third Place Winner
Beatriz Maldonado, PhD Researcher University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dissertation Title: Ordinary Salviness and the Exceptional Everyday
Degree Discipline: Sociocultural Anthropology
Degree Granting Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2022
First Place Nora K. Rivera, PhD Assistant Professor Chapman University Dissertation Title: The Rhetorical Mediator: Understanding Agency in Indigenous Translation and Interpretation through Indigenous Approaches to UX Research Degree Discipline: Rhetoric and Composition Degree Granting Institution: University of Texas at El Paso
Second Place Julio Caesar, PhD Director Research, Evaluation and Assessment Department Bloomington Public Schools Dissertation Title: Standardized Bilingual Assessments: A Means to Reduce Construct-Irrelevant Variance and Ethnic/Racial Stereotype Threat Degree Discipline: Educational Psychology Degree Granting Institution: University of Minnesota
Third Place Elena Sada, PhD Program Director Two-Way Immersion Network of Catholic Schools, Boston College Dissertation Title: A Narrative Analysis on Latino Male Youth's Identity and Self-advocacy in Connection to Career Preparation Degree Discipline: Curriculum and Instruction, Bilingual and Multicultural Education Degree Granting Institution: University of Connecticut
2021
First Place Laura Minero, PhD LGBTQ Youth Trauma Resilience and Community Education Post-doctoral Fellow UCLA Nathason Family Resilience Center Dissertation Title: The Impact of Detention Proceedings and Solitary Confinement on Latinx, Transgender, Undocumented and Asylum Seeking Immigrants Degree Discipline: Counseling Psychology Degree Granting Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Second Place Gisele Martinez-Negrete, PhD Assistant Professor University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation Title: Bilingual Ways with Words: An Ethnographic Study of Language and Social Constructions in a Kindergarten Dual Language Class Degree Discipline: Educations Degree Granting Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Third Place Amilcar Guzmán, PhD Director, Evaluation & Outcomes League of Women Voters of the United States Dissertation Title: Uncovering Typologies of Civically Engaged Latinx/a/o College Graduates Degree Discipline: Higher Educations Degree Granting Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Honorable Mention Jorge Burmicky, PhD Assistant Director of Research University of Texas at Austin Dissertation Title: Latino Men and the College Presidency: Career Ascension and Interactions of Social Identities Degree Discipline: Educational Leadership and Policy Degree Granting Institution: University of Texas, Austin
2020
First Place David G. Martinez, PhD Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policies at the College of Education University of South Carolina Dissertation Title: A Study of School Finance in Arizona: Equity, English Language Learners, and the Allocation of Funding Degree Granting Institution: Arizona State University Second Place David Mickey-Pabello Postdoctoral Fellow in Ethnoracial Relations Hutchins Center for African and African American Research Harvard University Dissertation Title: A Structural Investigation of Laissez Faire Racism: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Affirmative Action Bans Degree Granting Institution: University of Michigan Third Place Darcy Orellana, EdD Associate Director Human Resources Chief Diversity Officer Middlesex Community College, Massachusetts Dissertation Title: Organizational Culture in Community Colleges: Making Connections to Diverse Student Success Degree Granting Institution: University of Massachusetts Boston
2019
First place Cynthia Alcantar Assistant Professor Higher Education Leadership University of Nevada, Reno Dissertation Title: Cultivating our Nation’s Engaged Citizenry: Institutional Factors That Promote the Civic Engagement of College Students Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Los Angeles Second place Stephany Cuevas Academic Pathways Postdoctoral Fellow Vanderbilt University Dissertation Title: Apoyo Sacrificial, Sacrificing Support: Understanding Undocumented Latina/o Parents’ Engagement in Students’ Post- Secondary Planning and Success Degree Granting Institution: Harvard University Third place Laura C. Chávez- Moreno Postdoctoral Scholar Graduate School of Education & Informational Studies University of California, Los Angeles Dissertation Title: A Critical Race Ethnography Examining Dual- language Education in the New Latinx Diaspora: Reinforcing and Resisting Bilingual Education’s Racial Roots Degree Granting Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
2018
First Place Winner Frank Fernández Assistant Professor of Higher Education University of Houston Dissertation Title: Doctoral Education of Latinas and Latinos in the United States: Examinations of (Sub) Baccalaureate Origins, the Role of Hispanics Serving Institutions, and the Relationship between Sources of Financial Support and Post-Graduation Plans Degree Granting Institution: The Pennsylvania State University Second Place Marla Delgado-Guerrero Counselor & Diversity Coordinator Marquette University Dissertation Title: Exploring Psych Sociocultural Processes Within Mentoring Relationships that Influence Academic Persistence Decisions for Latina/o Undergraduates: A Mixed Methods Approach Degree Granting Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison Third Place Roxanne Gutierrez-Ocampo Educational Consultant University of California, San Diego Dissertation Title: Los Guerreros Academicos 30 Academically Invulnerable Mexican-American Students Who Forged Their Way into America’s Most Selective Universities Degree Granting Institution: University of California, San Diego
2017
First place winner Renata Alejandra Revelo Alonso Clinical Assistant Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Illinois at Chicago Dissertation Title: Engineering Familia: The Role of a Professional Organization in the Development of Engineering Identities of Latina/o Undergraduates 22 Degree Granting Institution: University of Illinois at Chicago Rosalva M. Bumgardner Teacher Huntsville City Schools Dissertation Title: Factors Influencing Successful Completion of a College Degree by Hispanic female educators Degree Granting Institution: University of Oklahoma Third place Daisy Indira Collins Instructor Multicultural Education Missouri State University Dissertation Title: The Brown Glass Ceiling? A Qualitative Study of Hispanic Women/Latinas Leaders in Higher Education Degree Granting Institution: Missouri State University
2016
First place Adriana Ruiz Alvarado Assistant Professor Department of Leadership and Higher education University of Redlands Dissertation Title: Latina/o Pathways Through College: Characteristics of Mobile Students and the Institutional Networks They Create Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Los Angeles Second place Nancy Acevedo-Gil Assistant Professor Department of Educational Leadership and Technology California State University, San Bernardino Dissertation Title: College-Going Culture in an Underresourced Urban High School: Examining Latina/o College Choice and Navigation Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Los Angeles Third place Michelle Castellanos Associate Director of Survey Research Loyola Loyola Marymount University Dissertation Title: How College Affects Latinas’ Career Decision-Making Process: A Psycho-sociocultural Approach Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara
2015
First place Sofia Bahena Assistant Professor Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies The University of Texas, San Antonio Dissertation Title: The Hope of Immigrant Optimism: Examining Immigrant Optimism Among Latino Youth Using the Children’s Hope Scale Degree Granting Institution: Harvard University Second place Marissa Vasquez Urias Assistant Professor Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education San Diego State University Dissertation Title: Predictors of Sense of Belonging among Latino men in Community College Degree Granting Institution: San Diego State University Third place Jerry Flores Assistant Profesor Sociology Department University of Toronto Dissertation Title: Caught Up: Girls, Violence and Wraparound Incarceration Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara
2014
First place Carla Pezzia Assistant Professor Department of Human Sciences University of Dallas Dissertation Title: Sober Self: Discourse and Identity of Recovering Alcoholics in the Western Highlands of Guatemala Degree Granting Institution: The University of Texas at San Antonio Second place Lucy Arellano Assistant Professor College of Education Oregon State University Dissertation Title: Capitalizing baccalaureate degree attainment: Revealing the path of the Latina/o scholar Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Los Angeles Third place Wilfredo Del Pilar Vice President for Higher Education Policy, Practice and Research The Education Trust Dissertation Title: Undocumented Students: Understanding the Context for Postsecondary Access Degree Granting Institution: Penn State University
2013
First place Marcela Cuellar Assistant Professor Department of Higher Education and Leadership University of California, Davis Dissertation Title: Latina/o Student Success in Higher Education: Models of Empowerment at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Emerging HSIs, and Non-HSIs Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Los Angeles Second place Maria Cristina Cruza-Guet, co-winner Lecturer in Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry Yale University Dissertation Title: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationship between Social Support and Psychological Distress among Hispanic Elders in Miami, FL Degree Granting Institution: Lehigh University Nelson Flores, co-winner Associate Professor Graduate School of Education University of Pennsylvania Dissertation Title: From Nation-States to Neoliberalism: Language Ideologies and Governmentality Degree Granting Institution: City University of New York, Graduate Center Third place Priscila Diaz Assistant Professor Department of Psychology Azusa Pacific University Dissertation Title: Perceived Group Discrimination and Problem Behavior: The Moderating Role of Traditional Cultural Values and Familiar Relationships in Mexican American Adolescents Degree Granting Institution: Arizona State University
2012
First place Kristine Molina Assistant Professor Department of Psychology University of Illinois at Chicago Dissertation Title: A Multiple-Group Path Analysis of the Role of Social Marginality on Self-related Physical Health among U.S. Latina/o Adults: An Intersectional Perspective Degree Granting Institution: University of Miami Second place Armando Ibarra Associate Professor School for Workers University of Wisconsin- Extension Dissertation Title: Poverty in the Valley of Plenty: Mexican Families and Migrant Work in California Degree Granting Institution: University of Wisconsin Third place Carmen Martinez Calderon, co-winner Education Programs Consultant & Lecturer Department of Education University of California, Berkeley Dissertation Title: Out of the Shadows: An Inquiry into the Lives of Undocumented Latino AB540 Students Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Berkeley Lindsay Perez Huber, co-winner Associate Professor Social and Cultural Analysis of Education California State University, Long Beach Dissertation Title: Sueños Indocumentados: Using LatCrit to Explore the Testimonios of Undocumented and U.S. born Chicana College Students on Discourses of Racist Nativism in Education Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Los Angeles
2011
First place Rocío Magana Assistant Professor Department of Anthropology Rutgers University Dissertation Title: Bodies on the Line: Life, Death, and Authority on the Arizona-Mexico Border Degree Granting Institution: University of Chicago Second place Edris Montalvo Associate Professor Department of Geography Cameron University Dissertation Title: The Recruitment and Retention of Hispanic and African-American Undergraduate Students in Public Universities in the U.S., 2000-2006 Degree Granting Institution: Texas State University, San Marcos Third place Alisia Caban, co-winner Assistant Director Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services University of Oregon Dissertation Title: So Far From "Home:" Portraits of Mexican-Origin Scholarship Boys Degree Granting Institution: University of Texas, Austin Sophia Jordán Wallace, co-winner Associate Professor Department of Political Science University of Washington Dissertation Title: Beyond Roll Call Votes: Latino Representation in the 108th - 110th Sessions of the U.S. House of Representatives Degree Granting Institution: Cornell University 2010
First place Theresa Segura Herrera Assistant Professor Department of Counseling Psychology The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Dissertation Title: An Examination of Psychological Wellbeing for Latinas Degree Granting Institution: Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago Second place Maria Martiniello Associate Research Scientist ETS Center for Validity Research Stanford University Dissertation Title: Linguistic Complexity and Differential Item Functioning (DIF) for English Language Learners (ELL) in Math Word Problems Degree Granting Institution: Harvard University Third place Ryan Alcantara Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Marymount California University Dissertation Title: A Learning Model of Policy Making Implementation, Implementing Technology in Response to Policy Requirements Degree Granting Institution: California State University, Fullerton
2009
First place Lourdes Nájera Assistant Professor Department of Anthropology Drake University Dissertation Title: Yalálag is no longer Just Yalálag: Circulating Conflict and Contesting Community in a Zapotec Transnational Circuit Degree Granting Institution: Stanford University Second place Sandra Larios Staff Psychologist Department of Psychiatry University of California, San Francisco Dissertation Title: Using the Social Ecological Model to understand the contextual factors associated with HIV risk in commercial sex workers at high risk for contracting HIV Degree Granting Institution: University of California, San Diego Third place Adriana Lopez, co-winner Adjunct Faculty Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Columbia University of Pittsburgh Dissertation Title: Markov Models for Longitudinal Course of Youth Bipolar Disorder Degree Granting Institution: University of Pittsburg Tiffany Schiffner, co-winner Supporting Professor of Counseling Rollins College Dissertation Title: I’m just a guy!” Mexican American College Students’ Constructions of Masculinity and Sexual Health Beliefs Degree Granting Institution: University of Illinois at Ubrana-Champaign
2008
First place Patricia Perez Professor Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies California State University, Fullerton Dissertation Title: Social Capital and Chain Migration: The College Choice Process of Chicana and Chicano Community College, Transfer and University Students Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Los Angeles Second place Angela Caballero De Cordero Producer/Co-Owner Fervian Productions, LLC Dissertation Title: Self-Efficacy Perceptions and their Impact on Latino and White Community College Student Persistence Degree Granting Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara Third place Jason Casellas Associate Professor Department of Political Science University of Houston Dissertation Title: Latino Representation in Congress and State Lectures Degree Granting Institution: Princeton University
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