IHEP Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives Lorelle L. Espinosa Starts STEM-Focused Blog for Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Published May 13, 2014
Washington, D.C., Feb. 19, 2010—Higher education leader Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D., is authoring a new blog to stress the national imperative of building and sustaining a diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education pipeline. Through a partnership with Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, Espinosa’s bimonthly blog is called “STEM Watch” in which she will tackle the importance of promoting an inclusive environment among both students and faculty in STEM while exploring promising practices and policies to help the United States meet President Obama’s national innovation goals in education.
As the Institute for Higher Education Policy’s (IHEP) director of policy and strategic initiatives, Espinosa provides leadership in aligning IHEP research, programs, policy initiatives, and other services with the organization’s strategic direction. She is well versed—as both a practitioner and researcher of higher education—on issues of postsecondary access and persistence of underrepresented groups. She also has published on the transition and advancement of underrepresented minority students in STEM postsecondary education, with an emphasis on women of color in STEM. Additionally, Espinosa holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in education from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received a B.A. from the University of California, Davis and an A.A. from Santa Barbara City College. Prior to her arrival at IHEP, Espinosa worked in the areas of student affairs and undergraduate education at the University of California, Davis; Stanford University; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"This blog serves as an excellent communication vehicle to help us spread the word about creating change for the next generation of STEM professionals, specifically in the communities of color we seek to impact," said Espinosa. "We are appreciative of the Diverse editors and staff for giving us an opportunity to ‘voice’ promising STEM practices and policies that should be embraced by higher education institutions in order to increase diversity and inclusiveness."
On a similar note, IHEP President Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D., recently offered some thoughts on STEM education in underrepresented communities while writing her monthly opinion editorial (“Closing The STEM Gap”) for Forbes.com’s new “education channel.” Cooper’s writing on Forbes.com—which receives over 40 million unique visitors every month—represents another strategic communications partnership with a major media outlet dedicated to covering various education issues.
To learn more about both blogs, contact Tia T. Gordon, IHEP communications and marketing consultant, at (202) 372-7204 or tgordon@ihep.org. For more information about IHEP, visit the organization’s Web site at www.ihep.org.
