Irene Vega

Ph.D. Student
Department of Education

Email: ivega@uci.edu

Biography

Irene I. Vega is a doctoral student in Educational Policy and Social Context at the University of California Irvine. Prior to beginning her graduate work, Irene worked as a school-based Prevention Specialist with Chicanos por la Causa, Inc. and as a Youth Specialist with the Yuma Private Industry Council; during these assignments she developed and implemented life and employment skills curriculum for underserved youth. She holds baccalaureate degrees in Political Science and Chicana/o Studies, and a master’s in Higher & Postsecondary Education from Arizona State University (ASU). She is a Eugene Cota-Robles Fellow and a Bert Corona Leadership Institute Senior Fellow. Irene’s professional goals include university teaching and working on educational policy at the national level. Her research interests focus on equity issues in higher education, P-16 initiatives, and the gender gap in educational outcomes among Latinas/os.