Barrera, Magdalena L.
- Vice Provost for Faculty Success, Office of the Provost
- Accreditation Liaison Officer for WASC Senior College and University Commission
- Professor, Chicana and Chicano Studies
Preferred: magdalena.barrera@sjsu.edu
Telephone
Preferred: (408) 924-2405
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy, Modern Thought and Literature, Stanford University, 2006
- Bachelor of Arts, English (with Honors) and Latin American Studies, University of Chicago, 1997
Bio
Dr. Magdalena L. Barrera currently serves as Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
and Accreditation Liaison Officer at San José State University. In this role, she
provides strategic leadership across core academic functions, including Faculty Success,
Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation, Institutional Research and Strategic
Analytics, Graduate Studies, Undergraduate Education, and Undergraduate Advising and
Success. She also directs SJSU’s Accessible Technology Initiative and Hispanic-Serving
Institution activities.
Prior to joining the Office of the Provost in 2020, she was Professor and Department
Chair of Chicana and Chicano Studies. As a faculty member, she taught Chicanx history,
literature, film, comparative Ethnic Studies, public speaking, and more. During that
time, she also served for two years as the Faculty-in-Residence for Diversifying the
Faculty in SJSU’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and a year as a Faculty
Fellow at the Chicanx/Latinx Student Success Center.
Dr. Barrera’s current research focuses on the higher education processes and navigational
strategies; 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 marginalized 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.
Dr. Barrera is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and first in her family to
pursue post-secondary degrees. She 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. She is honored to have been a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow (1996-97)
and an Institute for Citizens and Scholars Career Enhancement Fellow (2011-2012).
An avid photographer, lifelong bookworm, and dog lover, she enjoys traveling the world
with her husband, most recently visiting Argentina, Morocco, and Bali.