Faculty Portrait

Contact Information

Name: Dr. Elvia Ramirez

Title: Professor

Email: eramirez@csus.edu

Office Phone: 916-278-5856

Mailing Address: 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-6013

Office Hours: TBA

Pronouns : She/her/ella

Faculty Bio

Dr. Ramirez received her Ph.D. in Sociology from University of California, Riverside, where she specialized in race and class inequality and gender studies. Her research interests include graduate (doctoral) education, Chicanx/Latinx education, college choice, immigration, and intersectionality/women-of-color feminisms. Her current research projects revolve around doctoral (Ph.D.) student experiences, Chicanx/Latinx faculty at Hispanic Serving Institutions, and the historical development and contemporary status of the discipline of Chicanx Studies in U.S. higher education. 

Dr. Ramirez served as the 2018-19 President of the California Sociological Association. She currently serves as Coordinator of the Mentoring Program for the Center on Race, Immigration, and Social Justice (CRISJ), and as Historian for the Chicanx/Latinx Faculty and Staff Association. She was the recipient of the 2022-23 Outstanding University Service Award for the College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies.

Dr. Ramirez greatly enjoys working with and mentoring students. Like bell hooks, she believes that excitement and serious intellectual engagement can, and should, co-exist in the classroom setting. She has taught La Raza Studies, La Mujer Chicana, Chicano/Latino Politics & Public Policy, Introduction to Ethnic Studies, Research in Ethnic Studies, and other courses, She was the recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award at UC Riverside and the 2020-21 Outstanding Teaching Award for the College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies at Sac State. An interdisciplinary teacher and scholar, she has experience teaching Chicanx/Latinx Studies, Ethnic Studies, Women's Studies, and Sociology.

Dr. Ramirez is originally from Southern California and is a proud first-generation college student. Her family roots are in Jalostotitlán, Jalisco and Guanajuato, MX. 

Selected Leadership & Service

  • Coordinator, CRISJ Research Mentorship Program, Sacramento State
  • Member, Antiracism and Inclusive Campus Plan Fall Symposium Planning Committee, 2022-23
  • Member, Board of Directors, Pacific Sociological Association, 2021-23
  • Planning Fellow, Antiracism and Inclusive Campus Plan, Division of Inclusive Excellence, 2020-21
  • Member, University Appointment, Retention, Tenure, and Promotion (UARTP) Committee, 2021-24
  • Moderator, Write On! An Interdisciplinary Community, Sponsored by the Division of Inclusive Excellence, 2020-21
  • Program Director, Chicanx and Latinx Studies Program, 2020-23
  • President, California Sociological Association, 2018-19
  • Chair, Committee on Diversity and Equity (CODE), 2014-17
  • Council Member, Race, Gender, & Class Section of the American Sociological Association, 2011-14
  • Member, Committee for the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Pacific Sociological Association, 2008-11

Selected Honors and Awards

  • Research Enhanced Support Grant award, Academic Affairs & ORIED, Sacramento State, 2023-24. 
  • Outstanding University Service Award, College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies, Sacramento State, 2022-23. 
  • Anchor University Collaborative Research Fellowship, Sacramento State, 2022-23
  • Nominated as an "Inspirational Poderosa" by the 2022 Outstanding Chicana/Latina Poderosas Mural Project, Sacramento, CA
  • Outstanding Teaching Award, College of Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies, Sacramento State, 2020-21
  • Women of Influence Award (Faculty), Sacramento State, 2020-21
  • Institute for Social Research Faculty Research Fellowship, Sacramento State, 2009-10
  • University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity (UC ACCORD) fellowship
  • Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year Award, University of California, Riverside

Selected Publications

Ramirez, E. (Ed.). Latinx Migration & the U.S.-Mexico Border: An Anthology. Cognella Publishers. Preliminary edition. 

Ramirez, E. (2020). "Inequality in the graduate school admissions process: The Chicanx/Latinx experience." In J. Brooks, H. Sarabia, & A. K. Ida (Eds.), Race & Ethnicity: The Sociological Mindful Approach. Cognella Publishers.

Ramirez, E. (2018). "Navigating positive and hostile department climates: Experiences of Latino/a doctoral students." In A. Standlee (Ed.), On the borders of the academy: Challenges and strategies for first generation graduate students and faculty. Syracuse University Graduate School Press.

Ramirez, E. (2017). Unequal socialization: Interrogating the Chicano/Latino(a) doctoral experience. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 10(1), 25-38.

Ramirez, E. & Mirandé, A. (2015). Autoethnography/insider testimonios, common sense racism, and the politics of cross-gender mentoring.  In Caroline S. V. Turner & Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Eds.), Modeling mentoring across race/ethnicity and gender: Practices to cultivate the next generation of diverse faculty. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishers.

Ramirez, E. (2014). "Que estoy haciendo aqui? (What am I doing here?)": Chicanos/Latinos(as) navigating challenges and inequalities during their first year of graduate school. Equity & Excellence in Education, 47(2), 167-186.

Reese, E., Ramirez, E., & Estrada-Correa, V. (2013). The politics of welfare inclusion: Explaining state variation in legal immigrants' welfare rights. Sociological Perspectives, 56(1), 97-130.

Ramirez, E. (2013). Examining Latinos/as' graduate school choice process: An intersectionality perspective.  Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 12(1), 23-36.

Ramirez, E. (2011). “No one taught me the steps’: Latinos’ experiences applying to graduate school. Journal of Latinos and Education, 10(3), 204-222.

Barajas, M., & Ramirez, E. (2007). Beyond home/host dichotomies: A comparative examination of gender relations in a transnational Mexican community. Sociological Perspectives, 50(3), 367-392.

Reese, E. & Ramirez, E. (2002). The new ethnic politics of welfare: Struggles over legal immigrants’ rights to welfare in California. Journal of Poverty, 8(3), 29-62.

Selected Media Interviews & Presentations

Languages

  • English
  • Spanish

Information for Students

CRISJ Research Mentorship Program

The Center on Race, Immigration, and Social Justice (CRISJ) sponsors a research program for undergraduate students at Sacramento State. This program aims to provide students with access to research experience, faculty mentorship, and preparation for graduate school. See links below for more information:


Chicanx/Latinx Heritage Month Exhibit

Chicanx/Latinx faculty curated a Sac State Library exhibit in celebration of Chicanx/Latinx Heritage Month. Read about it here: