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Mary Dueñas

Mary Dueñas

Mary Dueñas

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ADDRESS
317 Bailey Education Complex
Website
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JY82pT8AAAAJ&hl=en
Phone
865-974-4142

Mary Dueñas

Assistant Professor; Coordinator, College Student Personnel

EDUCATION

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison (2021)

 

Mary Dueñas is an assistant professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) and the College Student Personnel (CSP) program coordinator at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Dueñas’ research addresses issues of equity and access in higher education, focusing on Latina/o/x college students attending four-year colleges/universities, their sense of belonging, and their experience with imposter syndrome. In her research practice, she uses holistic frameworks and critical theory to share stories and explain systemic inequities that marginalized communities face as they persist through higher education. She pays particular attention to college access and creates pathways for underrepresented and marginalized students to thrive and succeed in higher education.

Dr. Dueñas teaches master’s and doctoral students and typically teaches College Student Development Theory and Introduction to Scholarship. Mary Dueñas holds her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

HONORS

 

2025

Early Career Award, Honorable Mention

American Education Research Association Latina/o/x Research Issues SIG

Mena Valdez Outstanding Faculty Award

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Conference

2024

Louie M. and Betty M. Phillips Faculty Support in Education Award

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Top 15 Emerging Scholars

Diverse: Issues In Higher Education

2023

Faculty Fellow

Association of American Hispanics in Higher Education, Inc.

2022

Escaleras Institute Fellow

National Association of Student Personnel Administration

Publications

  1. Garcia, A.,* Dueñas, M., & Rincón, B. (2024). Culturally responsive mentoring: A psychosociocultural perspective on sustaining Students of Color career aspirations in STEM. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. [Advanced Online Publication] DOI: 10.1037/dhe0000587
  2. Sandoval, E.,* & Dueñas, M. (2025). A psychosociocultural perspective in the Nuevo Sur: Support and protecting first-generation college students at a southeastern institution. Journal of Latinos and Education, 24(1), 104-119. DOI: 10.1080/15348431.2024.2366363
  1. Dueñas, M. (2024). Imposter syndrome’s impact on Latinx college students during transformative times. Journal of Latinos and Education, 24(2), 349-361. DOI: 10.1080/15348431.2024.2381054
  1. Dueñas, M., Gloria, A. M., Castellanos, J., & Leon, S.* (2024). Mi mamá es una mujer poderosa y inspiradora: Latina mother’s influence on Latina undergraduates’ academic persistence. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 37(9) 1-17. DOI: 10.1080/09518398.2024.2318308
  1. Dueñas, M., & Gloria, A. M. (2022). Para honrar los sacrificios de mi familia: Motivating persons and processes of Latinx undergraduates attending a predominantly white institution. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 1-18. DOI: 10.1080/09518398.2022.2098403
  1. Ramírez Stege, A., Cabrera, I., Dueñas, M., & Quintana, S. (2021). Aprender haciendo: Undergraduate curriculum development for a Latinx mental health service-learning course. Teaching of Psychology, 49(3), 269-275. DOI: 10.1177/00986283211021119
  2. Dueñas, M., & Gloria, A. M. (2020). ¡Pertenecemos y tenemos importancia aquí!: Exploring sense of belonging and mattering for first-generation and continuing-generation Latinx undergraduates. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 42(1), 95-116. DOI: 10.1177/10.1177/0739986319899734
  1. Rincón, B., Fernandez, F., & Dueñas, M. (2020). Anchoring comunidad: How first- and continuing-generation Latinx students in STEM engage community cultural wealth. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(8), 840-854. DOI: 10.1080/09518398.2020.1735567
  1. Sampe, M., Dueñas, M., & Gloria, A. M. (2019). Latin@ undergraduates’ willingness to seek and attitudes towards counseling: An examination of cultural orientation and cultural fit. Journal of Latinos and Education, 20(2), 190-205. DOI: 10.1080/15348431.2019.1588735
  1. Dueñas, M., & Gloria, A. M. (2017). ¿Pertenezco a esta universidad? The mediating role of belonging for collective self-esteem and mattering for Latin@ undergraduates. Journal of College Student Development, 58(6), 891-906. DOI: 10.1353/csd.2017.0070