Biography
Dr. Penelope Espinoza is an associate professor at The University of Texas at El Paso in the College of Education. Dr. Espinoza’s research applies social-psychological approaches to educational contexts. She is especially interested in studying how social-cognitive biases can be addressed to promote more diverse and inclusive educational environments, particularly in STEM. Dr. Espinoza holds a doctoral degree in social psychology from the University of Michigan and an undergraduate degree from Stanford University with honors in psychology and a minor in anthropology. She was a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellow and Predoctoral Fellow and has held internships with ETS and the National Academy of Sciences. She has been a principal investigator, project director, and research consultant for grant projects funded by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Espinoza was raised in El Paso, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border, and has the pleasure of raising her own family there.