Rate My Professor Virgini Montero Hernandez

Dr. Virginia Montero Hernandez is a Professor and Program Director in the Department of Advanced Studies in Education within the College of Education, Kinesiology & Social Work at California State University, Stanislaus. She earned her PhD in Education, with a focus on Curriculum and Instruction/Higher Education, from the University of California, Riverside in 2010. During her doctoral studies from 2005 to 2010, she was a fellow through the binational program of the University of California Institute for Mexico and the U.S. (UCMEXUS) and El Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) in Mexico. Following her PhD, she served as a postdoctoral scholar at the Graduate School of Education at UCR and as a Scholar in Residency at UCMEXUS. Prior to joining Stan State, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of a master’s program at Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, through the CONACYT repatriation program. There, she was honored as an active member of the National System of Researchers, Level 1 by CONACYT. She has acted as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on research projects funded by CONACYT, Mexico's Ministry of Education, and multi-year projects through the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Dr. Montero Hernandez's research examines how formal and informal educational processes, particularly at the postsecondary level, influence individuals’ identity formation. Her work explores effective curriculum and instructional practices that promote identity work, transformational learning, agency, resilience, and empowerment. Employing a socio-cultural and cultural psychology perspective, she investigates institutional responses to intersectionality and designs creative curriculum structures to support holistic development for those with multiple marginalizations. Recent efforts include educational interventions addressing mental health and empowering Latinx adult learners; she developed a six-module student empowerment program fostering self-authorship and psychological empowerment. She has designed and delivered undergraduate and graduate courses on critical education topics and qualitative research methodology, led professional development for professors in STEM and non-STEM fields, and chaired more than 25 doctoral dissertations. Her publications include a co-authored book, book chapters, and articles on higher education issues such as community colleges, the academic profession, Mexican higher education, faculty learning, mental health among Latinx students, graduate education, and mentoring.