Paulette Garcia Peraza

Assistant Professor in Cultural Psychology, California State University-Sacramento

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About Paulette

Garcia Peraza's research focuses on culture in higher education institutions and how that culture affects the experiences of minoritized (e.g., first-generation, ethnic-racial minorities, working-class) undergraduate and graduate students. Overarching themes in Garcia Peraza's writings include effects of institutional policy and culture, experiences in minority serving institutions, strengths of students of color and first-generation students.

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Contributions

Advancing Student Belonging Through Broader Definition and Methods

Paulette Garcia Peraza

Memo, June 2025

Publications

"Social Identities and Intersectionality: A Conversation About the What and the How of Development" (with Margarita Azmitia and Saskias Casanova). Annual Review of Developmental Psychology 5 (2023): 169-191.

Explores ways in which minoritized children conceptualize their ethnic/racial, social class, sexual, and immigrant identities. Offers an additional focus on how children navigate those identities in their schools and communities.

"‘We Belong Here’: Identities, Family, Sense of Belonging, and Persistence in Latinx First-Generation College Students’ Educational Journeys" (with Margarita Azmitia and Andrew G. Takimoto). Adversity and Resilience Science 2 (2021): 303-314.

Investigates the roles of sense of belonging at a university, ethnic-racial identity, perceptions of ethnic-racial identity discrimination, and family emotional support in first-generation college students’ academic self-efficacy and well-being.