Maria Luz Espino

Maria Luz Espino is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Education and Employment Research Center at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Dr. Espino’s research primarily focuses on three areas within the higher education contexts: 1) examining organizational and political barriers towards access, retention, and success for first-generation, foster youth, rural, and racially minoritized students, 2) the role of identity development and student socialization in STEM education and the workforce, and 3) community college pathways towards graduate school. She earned a Ph.D in Higher Education from Iowa State University, a M.A in Educational Policy and Leadership from Marquette University, and a B.S in Community and Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.