Assistant Professor
School of Education

Access to Higher Education, Educational Trajectory of Latino Students, Family and Social Context of Latino Students’ Educational Experiences, Schooling Conditions, and Gender Differences in Schooling Experiences

Cota-Robles Fellow
UC Language Minority Research Institute Dissertation Research
UCLA Dissertation-Year Fellowship Grant
UCLA Research Mentorship Award

Maria Estela Zarate earned her B.A. in Mathematical Economic Analysis and Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas and her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Science. Prior to joining the faculty at UCI, she was the Director of Educational Policy Research at the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California.

Prof. Zarate’s research interests are equitable access to higher education, college persistence among first-generation students, the educational trajectory of Latino students, family and social context of Latino students’ educational experiences, schooling conditions, and gender differences in schooling experiences. Prof. Zarate has employed various methodological approaches in her research, including survey methods and qualitative methodology.

Prof. Zarate’s interest in college access stemmed from her outreach recruitment efforts while an undergraduate student at Rice University, and later when she became an admissions counselor at Carleton College in Northfield, MN.

Zarate, M.E. (2008, March). "Parental involvement among Latino parents: Parents’ and teachers’ perceptions and expectations". Paper accepted for presentation at the Annual American Educational Research Association conference. New York, NY.

Zarate, M.E. & Gallimore, R. (2007, November). “Lessons from the Latino Home-School Project”. Migration Study Group Speaker Series. University of California Los Angeles. Los Angeles, CA

Zarate, M.E. (2007, November). Gender factor in determinants to college enrollment. Gender, Work, Family Colloquium. Department of Sociology. University of California Irvine. Irvine, CA

Zarate, M.E. (2007, April). When Grades Don’t Matter: Comparing Schooling Experiences of College and Non-College Latinas and Latinos. Paper presented in Chicano Studies Spring Colloquium Series. University of California, Berkeley, CA

Zarate, M.E. and Lopez, E. (2007, March). Financial Aid Access among Latinos. Paper presented at AAHHE Conference, Costa Mesa, CA

Zarate, M.E. & Marquez, A. (2006, November). Perspectives of Financial Aid Latino Youth and Parents. Paper presented at ASHE Conference, Anaheim, CA

Zarate, M.E. (2006, February). “A Longitudinal Perspective of School Agent-Student Relations among Latinas”. Presentation at Sociology of Education Conference, Asilomar, CA

Zarate, M.E. (2005, May). What do schools have to do with it? The role of Latinas' schooling experiences in college enrollment. Paper presented at 18th Annual UC Language Minority Research Institute Conference, San Francisco, CA

Zarate, M.E. (2004, November). When grades don’t matter: The significance of teacher-student relations in college enrollment outcomes. Paper presented at ASHE Conference, Kansas City, KS

Zarate, M. E. (2004, April). Gender difference in factors leading to college enrollment: A longitudinal analysis of Latina and Latino students. Paper presented at the AERA Conference, San Diego, CA.

Zarate, M.E. (2003, October). Live-In Maid Wanted: Takes initiative, Speaks English, Hard Working: Theorizing Survival in the Academy. Invited speaker to campus-wide multicultural reception. Whittier College. Whittier, CA.

Director of Educational Policy Research
Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California

Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=5674

Last updated
12/19/2011