Victoria Vezaldenos

Victoria Vezaldenos (M.A., M.S.) is a Doctoral Candidate in the Combined Program for Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan (UM). She is a proud Ford Predoctoral Fellow and a first-generation college student from Manteca, CA. Her research examines three interrelated questions:

1. How do youth come to understand their racial group boundaries and identities? 

2. What contexts support youth in developing a critical understanding of systemic issues? and 

3. How can we leverage quantitative methods to accurately study Multiracial populations?

Victoria leverages quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches to explore these issues among diverse groups of young people in the United States, with a special emphasis on Multiracial youth, families, and communities. Her work has been published in journals such as Journal of Research on Adolescence, Applied Developmental Science, and Race and Social Problems. 

Victoria will earn her PhD in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan in the Winter of 2026. She has also completed her M.S. in Psychology and M.A. and Education Studies at UM and previously earned her B.A. in Psychology from UCLA (Go Bruins!). In her time as a student at UCLA and the University of Michigan, Victoria has received numerous awards for her scholarship, mentorship, and teaching including over $23,000 in funding to support her research and over $145,000 to support the development of more equitable programming on campus. 

She is eager to continue her program of research as a professor; conducting work that will make theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions to the field with implications for supporting the fastest growing demographic of youth in the U.S.

Are you interested in collaborating? 

Do you want to discuss research?

Contact Victoria at toriavez@umich.edu