Erika Knox is a Community College Counselor at Santa Monica College, where she works with students from all walks of life. Her specialty and focus has been on helping students prepare and transfer from a community college to a four-year university, particularly first-generation Black and Brown students.
Erika decided to enroll in LMU's Ed.D. Program because she wanted to learn how to increase the number of Black and Latinx students transferring to four-year universities. She also really enjoys research and has wanted to conduct research for most of her life. Completing a doctoral program that focuses on social justice has been a dream of hers since she was in community college.
Erika’s dissertation, “‘We Have the Potential’”—Math as a Racialized Barrier: Counter-Narratives of Black and Latinx Working-Class California Community College STEM Students,” chaired by Yvette Lapayese, Ph.D., examined how Black and Latinx STEM students interpret and derive meaning from their mathematics trajectories, and the strategies they develop to navigate transfer-level mathematics environments in post-AB 705 contexts. Utilizing CRT as a framework, the research documented students’ counter-narratives with the aim of enhancing transfer rates and STEM transfer readiness for students of color in STEM fields. The study concluded that structural racism persists in California Community Colleges and described a teaching ecosystem as the equalizer for students of color.
Professionally, LMU’s Ed.D. Program and her dissertation have changed the way Erika approaches students in her counseling appointments and in the programming she conducts for students. Going further, it has inspired her to continue to conduct research and hopefully affect state policy in the future. On a personal level, this program has helped her to fully embrace her voice as a social justice leader in education and contributed to her growth as a counselor, academic, mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend.