Rate My Professor Tanya Bakhru

Tanya Saroj Bakhru is a Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Associate Chair in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at San José State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Women’s Studies from University College Dublin (2007), an M.A. in Women’s Studies from San Diego State University (2003), and a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Redlands (2001).

Dr. Bakhru’s research specializations include feminist critiques of globalization, reproductive health and justice, transnational women’s health, reproductive justice, transnational feminism, and women’s health movements. Her current research focuses on the experiences of LGBT foster parents using the foster care system, employing snowball sampling and semi-structured qualitative interviews to explore reproductive justice frameworks addressing tensions in family creation by LGBT couples. She has authored and edited key publications such as Reproductive Justice and Sexual Rights: Transnational Perspectives (Routledge, 2019, editor); Reproductive Justice, Adoption and Foster Care (Routledge, 2024, with Krista L. Benson); What Do We Know and What Should We Do About… Abortion (Sage, forthcoming 2026, with Grace Howard); “Reproductive Health and Human Rights: Lessons from Ireland” (Journal of International Women’s Studies, 2017); “Global Citizenship as a Feminist Pedagogical Tool” (Social Alternatives, 2016, with Rachel Rogers); “Universities Must Do Better for the Trans Community” (Ms. Magazine, 2025, with S. de Bourbon, F. Du Cros, S. Gallardo, and M. Strong); “Negotiating and Navigating the Rough Terrain of Transnational Feminist Research” (Journal of International Women’s Studies, 2008); and “Migration, Development, and Reproductive Health: Selected Experiences of an NGO in Ireland” (Journal of Gender, Technology and Development, 2008).