Associate Professor of Psychology, Faculty Director of the Student Success Equity Research Center, and Faculty Director of the UC Santa Cruz First-Generation Initiative at the University of California, Santa Cruz
About
Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias is an associate professor of psychology and faculty director of the Student Success Equity Research Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She earned a bachelor of science from The University of Arizona (UA), where she was also a Ronald E. McNair Achievement Scholar. She continued at UA to earn a master's and PhD in social psychology, and then became a University Diversity Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow for the Center of the Study of Diversity at the University of Delaware.
Current Work:
As a social and cultural psychologist, Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias examines the importance of reflecting the cultural strengths and practices of students from diverse backgrounds in educational settings as a way to foster inclusion and equity. Dr. Covarrubias utilizes a variety of methods and an intersectional, asset-based framework to bring visibility to the diversity in the student experience. With her team of student researchers in the Culture and Achievement Collaborative, she works to translate these findings into actionable practices that can shift the culture of institutions and can help students thrive.
Research Area Keyword(s):
Culture, self, and identity; educational equity; culturally-grounded community and school interventions; researcher-practitioner collaborations