Bernadette Sánchez, PhD
President's Distinguished Professor
Inaugural Presidential Humanities and Social Sciences Chair
Educational Psychology
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Contact
Address:
1040 W. Harrison St.
Office Phone:
Email:
CV Link:
Related Sites:
About
Bernadette Sánchez is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago. She is an expert on mentoring relationships and the positive development of urban, low-income racially minoritized adolescents, particularly Latino/a/x/e and African-American youth. Her research is on the role of formal and natural mentoring relationships in youth’s educational experiences, the resilience and resistance of youth who are marginalized in U.S. society, and the racial and ethnic processes, such as racial discrimination and racial/ethnic identity, that impact the development of youth of color and their relationships with mentors. Her current research projects are on a) the role of mentoring in adolescents’ science and ethnic/racial identities and b) an evaluation of cultural humility training and support activities for volunteer mentors of racially minoritized adolescents. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), William T. Grant Foundation, and local foundations for her mentoring research. She was also a Distinguished Fellow for the William T. Grant Foundation. Bernadette is a member of the Research Board for the National Mentoring Resource Center and a Fellow of the Society of Community Research & Action. She is committed to disseminating her work to a broad audience, including academic journals and through workshops, trainings, Op-Eds and blog posts for mentoring practitioners and youth workers. She is a first-generation college student and loves teaching and mentoring students at UIC.
Courses
EPSY 100: Introduction to Human Development & Learning
EPSY 150: Human Development & Learning Academic Success
EPSY 383: Critical Perspectives of Latino/a/x/e Human Development
Selected Grants
William T. Grant Foundation, An Investigation of a Cultural Humility & Social Justice Training & Support Intervention for Mentors of Youth of Color, 2020-2026, PI
National Science Foundation, Collaborative Research: A Multi-level Investigation of STEM Mentoring – Outcomes for Middle School Youth, their Mentors and Partner Organizations, 2019-2025, co-PI
National Science Foundation, Investigating How Museum Experiences Inform Youths’ STEM Career Interest and Awareness, 2019-2026, co-PI
Selected Publications
1 graduate student 2undergraduate student
Sánchez, B., Anderson, A. J., 1Lee, S., 1Thursby Bourke, K., Monjaras-Gaytan, L. Y., Valdez, J. M., Herrera, C., & DuBois, D. L. (in press). Loneliness among racially minoritized adolescents: Racial discrimination and ethnic/racial identity as risk and protective factors. Journal of Early Adolescence.
Monjaras-Gaytan, L. Y., Sánchez, B., Raposa, E. B., Lovell, C., & Salusky, I. (2025). The role of institutional natural mentors in first-generation college students’ social belonging and academic outcomes. American Journal of Community Psychology, 1- 12. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.7003812
1LeBlanc, T., 1Sevilla-Arvizu, R., Loyd, A. B., Sánchez, B., & Applebaum, L. (2025). Examining the associations between ethnic-racial identity, career outcome expectations, and STEM aspirations among Black and Latine adolescents. Journal for STEM Education Research.
1de los Reyes, W., Sánchez, B., 2Draper, C., & 2Barraza, R. (2025). To help or hinder: The role of nonparental adults in the sociopolitical development of immigrant-origin emerging adults. Journal of Adolescent Research, 1-26. Advanced online publication.
Sánchez, B., Anderson, A. J., Herrera, C., DuBois, D. L., 1Thursby Bourke, K., 1Sack, J. K., 1Lee, S., Burchwell, K., Monjaras-Gaytan, L. Y., & 1Garcia-Murillo, Y. (2025). The effectiveness of providing training and ongoing support to foster cultural humility in volunteers serving as mentors to youth of color: A mixed-methods study protocol. BMC Public Health, 25, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21508-x
1Lee, S., Griffith, A. N., Sánchez, B., Jiang, X., Leggett, C., Bilal, N. J. N., & Chung, S. (2024). “He knows me as a person”: Navigating cultural dynamics in relational pathways towards positive youth-adult relationships in youth programs. Journal of Adolescent Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584241297118
Anderson, A., J., Simpson, S. B., & Sánchez, B. (2024). Profiles in cultural humility: Examining differences in openness to training and match length among volunteer mentors. Children and Youth Services Review, 163, 1-9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107803
1Garcia-Murillo, Y., Sánchez, B., Carter, J. S., McMahon, S., & Schwartz, S. (2023). Natural mentoring among college students of color: Considerations for their ethnic-racial identity and psychological well-being. Journal of Community Psychology, 51(8), 3348-3365. DOI: 10.1002/jcop.23064
1Jones, K.V., Parra Cardona, R., Sánchez, B., Vohra-Gupta, S., & Franklin, C. (2023). Motivations, program support, and personal growth: Mentors perspectives on the reciprocal benefits of cross-racial mentoring relationships with Black youth. Children and Youth Services Review.
Sánchez, B., 1Garcia-Murillo, Y., 1Monjaras-Gaytan, L. Y., 1Thursby, K., 1Ulerio, G., 1de los Reyes, W., Salusky, I.R., & 1Rivera, C. S. (2022). Everyday acts of resistance: Mexican, undocumented immigrant youth navigating oppression in education with mentor support. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 32(2), 398-416.
Education
PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, Community & Prevention Research (Psychology)
MA, University of Illinois at Chicago, Community & Prevention Research (Psychology)
BA, Fairfield University, Psychology
Professional Memberships
Society for Community Research & Action
Society for Research on Adolescence
Society for Research on Child Development