Janira Rivas Pineda, a student mom living in East Los Angeles, asked the community to support her with donations to achieve her dream of earning a PhD in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and becoming a university professor.
“I need these funds to re-register and get a dissertation and statistics mentor to help me finish all my papers and hopefully complete my PhD in September 2023. We really appreciate any help!” Janira writes in the Finish my PHD account on GoFundMe which he created to collect donations.
Her goal is to raise $3,000, which will go a long way toward completing the last phase of her PhD.
The covid-19 pandemic and the birth of her daughter, Arina, now two, have put her plans to complete her final stage of higher education on hold.
“I am very close to getting my doctorate (PhD). Being a housewife for almost three years means my finances have taken a hit and I ask you to support me in reaching my goal,” she says.
Janira is one of the few Hispanic women studying in the US for a doctorate. According to educational attainment data provided by the US Census Bureau, only 0.52% of Hispanics have a doctorate, compared to 0.38% of Hispanics.
In an interview with Opinion, this student mother says she moved to Los Angeles at the age of six when her parents immigrated to the country. She grew up in south-central Los Angeles and was the first in her family to go to college. He attended Santa Monica Community College; Graduated from the Department of International Studies and Spanish at the University of Miami.
When he graduated, he went to Spain, where he received a master’s degree in public administration, international cooperation and NGOs from the University of Granada; Returning to Los Angeles, he took a job at a non-profit organization specializing in fundraising, but realized that it was not his business.
Later, she worked for almost three years as a community organizer in the organization Los Angeles Voice Peak.
“I was wondering how community leaders, mostly women, found time for meetings, having two jobs and children. Why are they involved? What is your incentive. I’d be tired, she told herself.
Because of all these concerns, he became interested in studying this phenomenon, as well as in finding out the causes of tension between society and the police.
“I decided that I wanted to return to my studies. First, I got another master’s degree in political science from the university. California State of Northridgeand then I went to the University of California at Santa Barbara to complete my Ph.D. in political science, which takes 5 to 7 years.”
Janira says that she dreams of becoming a professor of politics at the university, and for this she needs a doctorate.
In 2017, she married her husband Pedro, and in August 2020 they had a daughter, Arinay.
“I started my PhD in 2011 at UC Santa Barbara with a somewhat ambitious project that included doing research not only in Los Angeles, but also in El Salvador.”
He talks about how the coronavirus pandemic has delayed his research project because everything about human interaction has come to a halt.
“Originally, I planned to finish in the spring of 2020, before the baby girl was born, but I had to stop because of covid; But now it was more difficult with my daughter.”
The goal that Janira set for herself was to complete her doctoral studies in September, but the financial factor prevented her.
“If I don’t finish by that deadline, I will have to register in the fall; and it costs a lot more, at least I would have to finish 8 units, which cost me $5,000.”
For this reason, it aims to complete in two months.
He says he thought for a long time before opening GoFundMe ask for donations.
“I did this because I already have over $120,000 in student loans from the University of Miami and my PhD starts in October.”
Janira is currently finishing her doctoral dissertation on the topic: Crime and Strict Police: Political Involvement of Two LA Community Housing Projects (Crime and Strict Police: Political Involvement in Two Public Housing Units in Los Angeles).
Her research examines political participation in Hispanic communities with limited resources, crime, and excessive police force.
In his doctoral work, he also explains what political participation is like in these communities, how they mobilize and what mobilizes them; and how political participation shapes contact with crime and the criminal justice system.
Janira has received numerous research awards, including the UCSB Chicano Institute Fellowship, the UCSB Social and Human Studies Fellowship, the UCSB Department of Political Studies and Graduate Training Fellowship, and the American Political Science Association (APSA) Foundation Fellowship for Hispanics.
She has been a Postgraduate Fellow, Graduate Opportunity Fellow, SAGE Fellow, and Sally Casanova Postdoctoral Fellow.
Janira’s areas of specialization, in which she hopes to become a university professor, are Hispanic politics, racial and ethnic politics, US politics, criminal justice, comparative politics, and Central American politics in the United States.
Source: La Opinion
Alfred Hart is an accomplished journalist known for his expert analysis and commentary on global affairs. He currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker, where he provides readers with in-depth coverage of the most pressing issues affecting the world today. With a keen insight and a deep understanding of international politics and economics, Alfred’s writing is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the world we live in.