About Dra. Melissa Abeyta

Dra. Abeyta (she/her/dra) is a first-generation college graduate from San Marcos, Texas. At a young age she and her parents moved away from their small town when her dad joined the military. They transitioned to Fajardo, Puerto Rico, then Virginia Beach, Virginia and finally to San Diego, California. After arriving to their final duty station, she had been enrolled in at least six different schools and her experiences shaped her lens of the education system.

Dra. Abeyta began her higher education journey in community college, then transferred to San Diego State University where she earned a B.A. in Communication and Chicana/o Studies. Dra. Abeyta earned her M.A. in Postsecondary Educational Leadership and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at SDSU.
Inspired by her cultura and WOC in academia, Dra. Abeyta became founder and content creator for Academic Soul, a creative outlet. She launched @AcademicSoul to microblog on Instagram about how she managed life as a working mom and commuting doctoral student. Since then, she has used the outlet to share the demands of a postdoctoral-distance learning mom.

Latina Mami Scholar

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Dra. Abeyta’s educational journey was far from linear. As she was interviewing for her master’s program, she recalls desperately looking for an outfit that did not expose her pregnancy. She was afraid of the perceptions about how a new mother could handle the demands of a graduate program. She quickly learned how to navigate graduate school with a 7-week old newborn. She persisted through the program and a few years later, found herself in a similar situation, navigating a doctoral program and motherhood of a school-age child. Through her own personal and professional growth, she began to identify as a Latina Mami Scholar. These identities of motherhood and scholar emerged simultaneously.

Research Interests


​Dra. Abeyta's research expertise and research include using an anti-deficit lens to (1) explore the meanings formerly incarcerated and system impacted students make of their experiences; (2) study the experiences of Students of Color at community colleges; and (3) explore the Latina Mami-Scholar identity in higher education. Collectively, these strands aim to inform administrators, faculty, and practitioners on how to support these student populations academically and socially in postsecondary education.