DR. MIRANDA MOSIER-PUENTES
Dr. Mosier-Puentes is a working-class mother, educator, former first-generation college student, and Associate Professor in Child, Youth, and Family Studies. Her research and teaching focus on the relational experiences of students who are historically underrepresented in higher education, including low-income and working-class individuals, Communities of Color, youth aging out of the foster system, and first-generation college students. The experiences of student parents often surface in this work, and partnering with Emmy Sterling to support her McNair project marks the first opportunity she has had to focus closely on student parents as a central subject of study. Her writing has been published in Affilia: Feminist Inquiry in Social Work, Qualitative Social Work, and the Journal of Working-Class Studies. She recently co-authored Aging Out of the Foster System: Youths' Perspectives with Dr. Marcelo Diversi. Dr. Mosier-Puentes was also a student parent, whose long and winding path to the university included waitressing, caregiving, and over a decade in child care and youth work, particularly in early childhood education with children and families living in poverty. She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and holds degrees from Washington State University, Portland State University, and Clark Community College.