Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia counseling professor Michelle Espino has received the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s (ASHE) Dissertation of the Year Award for 2007.
Espino, an assistant professor in the College of Education’s department of counseling and human development services, wrote the dissertation titled, Master Narratives and Counter-Narratives: An Analysis of Mexican-American Life Stories of Oppression and Resistance Along the Journeys to the Doctorate, while completing her doctorate at the University of Arizona.
Espino chose the topic when she discovered a majority of the existing literature on Latino education focused on the failures or deficits Latinos face when navigating education systems. She chose to focus on 33 Mexican-Americans from across the country who successfully obtained their doctorates, providing a new research perspective in Latino education.
Before attending the University of Arizona, Espino served as coordinator of student programs at Southern Methodist University for five years. She received her master’s degree in college student personnel at Bowling Green State University and her bachelor’s degree in international relations from St. Mary’s University.
Espino’s dissertation was chosen from more than 50 others for the award.
