Jasmine Victor, Recent UTSA Doctoral Graduate, Advocates For Increased Representation In Higher Education

A Black woman from UTSA is using her postdoctoral research to advocate for an increase in Black women in higher education.

Jasmine Victor, a recent doctoral graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio, is advocating to increase representation in the classroom, especially in higher education.

After obtaining her Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies, Victor set her eyes on increasing the number of Black women that are working in higher education. During an interview with KSAT, Victor said her “ultimate goal” is to acquire a faculty position that would place her in the classroom, thus enabling her to “increase the visibility of Black women in college classrooms.” She believes this will increase exposure of Black women in higher education roles, which would provide the students with an experience that may not be what they were used to when growing up.

As a northwest Houston native, Victor is familiar with adapting and being a high achiever in different educational institutions. After being involved in roles such as a resident assistant and teaching assistant, Victor said she became intrigued by higher education. When discussing her role within the field she said, “I really like the higher ed piece of it, really. So, then I came into education leadership classes here at UTSA.”

“The reason I ended up in higher education was just to help different, you know, young adults come into themselves and develop and learn different things about themselves,” Victor said.

Victor has begun conducting research at the Urban Education Institute. The aim of her research at the institute is to “[improve] educational outcomes for a pre-K through workforce in San Antonio and beyond.” Her research has led her to find that Black women in full-time professor positions is a very low percentage, and she is working to change that.

The Ph.D. graduate is also a recent recipient of her bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. Victor received her master’s degree in public relations from the University of Houston.