Marissa Vasquez

Dr. Marissa Vasquez is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education at San Diego State University (SDSU). She holds concurrent leadership roles as Associate Director of the Community College Equity Assessment Lab (CCEAL) and national Chair of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE). Her additional affiliations include Faculty Affiliate status with Project MALES at the University of Texas at Austin, scholarship committee co-chair for MANA de San Diego, and founder of UC Berkeley's Chicanx/Latinx Alumni Association in San Diego.

Her educational journey reflects a commitment to community college pathways:

• A.A. in Transfer Studies, Southwestern College
• B.A. in English, University of California, Berkeley
• M.A. in Counseling, University of San Diego
• Ed.D. in Community College Leadership, San Diego State University

Dr. Vasquez's research examines equity in higher education through three interconnected strands:

• Pre/post-transition experiences of community college transfer students
• Anti-deficit analyses of Latina/o/x student success through socio-cultural and gendered lenses
• Institutional strategies for fostering inclusive environments for disproportionately impacted students

Her scholarship advances critical frameworks for understanding student resilience and institutional accountability.

Through the Vasquez Scholarship she established at SDSU, doctoral students receive support for research focused on Latinx community college populations. Her mentorship extends to the Puente Project at Southwestern College, where she has guided students since 2005, reinforcing her commitment to educational pipelines she personally navigated.

As Associate Director of CCEAL, she leads equity-focused institutional assessments for community colleges nationally. Her lab work complements her research agenda by developing actionable strategies to address systemic barriers identified through empirical studies of student experiences.