Desiree Zerquera

Desiree Zerquera is an Associate Professor for Higher Education and Student Affairs in the Department of Leadership Studies. As an engaged, mother-scholar, her work is grounded in a commitment to addressing the implicit and explicit inequities that shape higher education. Cuban and born and raised in Miami, Florida, she pursued her bachelor's degree in Mathematics and master's degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Florida before attending Indiana University to pursue her PhD in Higher Education and Student Affairs. Desiree Zerquera has worked as a researcher, student affairs practitioner, and higher education administrator. Her research focuses on how inequalities structure the experiences of marginalized students in accessing and succeeding in higher education, with expertise in the areas of organizational theory, public policy, financial aid, research methodology, and Latinx student experiences.

• Organizational theory
• Higher education policies (financial aid, admissions, racial equity)
• Prestige in higher education

• Higher education policy
• Assessment & data use in higher education
• Latinx student experiences
• Prestige & accountability in higher education

• Co-Chair, Latinx Excellence and Belonging Initiative
• Co-Chair, SOE Faculty Association (completed spring 2024)
• Chair, Department of Leadership Studies (completed spring 2024)
• Chair, General Education Department

• PhD, Higher Education and Student Affairs, Indiana University-Bloomington

• Senior Research Associate, Division of Institutional Research, Planning, Effectiveness and Analytics, Broward College
• Visiting Assistant Director for Research, Project on Academic Success, Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University-Bloomington
• Equity and Data Coach, Achieving the Dream
• Acting Director, Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures, University of Florida

• Zerquera, D., & Torres, V. (in press). Do performance-based funding policies promote prestige ambitions? An interest-convergence analysis. The Journal of Higher Education.

• Zerquera, D.D. (2023). Still Striving, and for What? Centering Equity in the Study of Prestige Seeking in Higher Education. In: Perna, L.W. (eds) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, vol 38. Springer, Cham.

• Zerquera, D. (2023, January). Surviving a polarized response to equity efforts in higher education. Miseducating the Public: Anti-CRT Movement, Rhetoric, Policy and Impact. Medium/Spark: Elevating Scholarship on Social Issues.

• Zerquera, D., & Ziskin, M. (2020). Implications of performance-based funding on equity-based missions in higher education. Higher Education Journal, 80, 1153-1174.

• Zerquera, D., Haywood, J., & *De Mucha Flores, M. (2020). More than nuance: Recognizing and serving the diversity of the Latinx community. In R. T. Teranishi, B.M.D. Nguyen, C.M. Alcantar, & E.R. Curammeng (Eds.), Measuring Race: Why Disaggregating Data Matters for Addressing Educational Inequity. New York: Teachers College Press.

• Envisioning a more just future. TEDx Talk at Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont Colleges. 
• Remembering instead of forgetting: Considering alternative ways of addressing historical artifacts of oppression. Commission for Social Justice Education Blog: A Blog from the ACPA Commission for Social Justice Educators.
• Research for research’s sake: The value and responsibility of translating research for diverse audiences. AERA Division J Blog.
• Impacts of prestige seeking in higher education. Academe Blog: The Blog of Academe Magazine.
• More than nuance: Recognizing and serving the diversity of the Latina/o community. Hispanic-Serving Institutions Center for Policy and Practice Blog.
• The potential role for campus cultural centers for post-traditional students. The PraXis Blog by the California Council of Cultural Centers in Higher Education.