Magdalena Barrera

Vice Provost for Faculty Success, San Jose State University

In her current role as Vice Provost for Faculty Success, Magdalena oversees all aspects of faculty recruitment and the tenure and promotion process, with a deep commitment to supporting diverse faculty who bring asset-minded pedagogies to the classroom. Prior to joining the Office of the Provost in 2020, she was Professor and Department Chair of Chicana and Chicano Studies and the Faculty-in-Residence for Diversifying the Faculty in SJSU’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Magdalena’s current research focuses on the experiences of historically underserved students and faculty in higher education; her work has appeared in a wide range of journals, edited collections, and higher–education news outlets. She is the co-author of The Latinx Guide to Graduate School (Duke University Press, 2023), a book that exposes the unspoken rules and expectations of grad school so that students can merge their academic and cultural identities—finding success not simply to play the game, but to transform institutions and widen the path for those who follow. The granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and first in her family to pursue post-secondary degrees, Magdalena holds a B.A. in English and Latin American Studies from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University.