Her Story
About Patricia
I have been in higher education basically my entire career, spanning over 15 years. I started off as a college advisor for underserved students in Boston, where I worked for 3 to 4 years, then moved into admissions recruiting students of color to attend UMass Boston for about two and a half years. After starting my graduate program, I began teaching and have been teaching ever since. For the past 15 years, I have served as an associate professor in the sociology and criminology department at Framingham State University. As a scholar activist, my research focuses on ways we can help and support first-generation college students and students of color. I create different strategies and initiatives to make those things happen within my university and also within my community. I am most proud of the pipeline I have created at Framingham State to help students not only succeed and stay, but also graduate. I work really closely with and mentor a number of students of color, and I have created different ways through which they can see themselves reflected and feel supported. I am Salvadoran, and less than 0.01% of all PhDs in the United States are Salvadoran, never mind Salvadoran women, so there is a lot of responsibility in giving back and making sure that we are taking care of ourselves and advocating for issues that are important to our community.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Patricia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to all the strong Salvadoran women who raised me. Everyone from my mother, my grandmother, my godmothers, my aunts - I come from a very tight and very strong group of women who have had to do everything that they could with whatever little they had. The knowing that I have to keep pushing and getting through and doing what I need to do to get to wherever I need to get to definitely comes from them.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell young women entering academia that it is very lonely, but that there are people out there who will mentor, guide, and serve. We just have to stick to our own values in navigating academia. As a Salvadoran woman, less than 0.01% of all PhDs in the United States are Salvadoran, never mind Salvadoran women. So there is a lot of responsibility in giving back and making sure that we are taking care of ourselves and advocating for issues that are important to our community.
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