Michelle Espino

Michelle M. Espino is a first-generation college student and is associate professor in the Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She earned her doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Arizona, her master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University, and her bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s University (TX).

Espino investigates the individual, organizational, and community factors that affect educational attainment for racial/ethnic minoritized communities, particularly for Latinx/as/os. Using critical perspectives, Espino work also exposes the social inequities that undermine individual motivations to study and work in colleges and universities. Espino has published articles in American Educational Research Journal, The Review of Higher Education, Teachers College Record, Equity & Excellence in Education, Qualitative Inquiry, and the American Journal of Education. She is also the creator of Latinx Intelligentsia, a podcast dedicated to uplifting Latinx/a/o communities in higher education.