About
Sarah L. Rodriguez is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education and an affiliate faculty member with the Higher Education Program at Virginia Tech. She is a co-editor of the upcoming book, Latin* Students in Engineering: An Intentional Focus on a Growing Population (Rutgers Press, 2024) and author of the upcoming book Supporting Latina Students in Engineering and Computing: A Chicana Feminist Approach (Harvard Education Press, 2025). She received her PhD in Higher Education Leadership from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a master's degree with a focus in College Student Personnel from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also holds a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish from Texas A&M University-Commerce and was a transfer student from Trinity Valley Community College.
Current Work
In her research, she concentrates on identifying and asking urgent questions about systemic inequities such as racism, sexism, and classism that marginalized communities experience as they transition to and through their engineering and computing higher education experiences. Dr. Rodriguez’s research expertise includes using identity and critical frameworks to study the formal and informal experiences of historically marginalized student populations within engineering and computing. Her work focuses on equity, access, and retention issues, principally related to STEM identity development, intersectionality, and larger systems of oppression.
Research Area Keyword(s)
Latina/o/e/x, STEM, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Low-income Students, rural