Northern Illinois University
Department of Psychology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Research Interests

Latine/x educational pathways; identity development among racially and ethnically marginalized first-generation college students; social representations of race, ethnicity, gender, and social class in family and education contexts; HSI servingness and educational equity; community-engaged research

Frequently Taught Classes

• Research Methods (PSYC 305)
• Latine/x Psychology (PSYC 495 / LATS 400)
• Introduction to Latino Studies (LATS 101)

Publications

• Valle, I. & Covarrubias, R. (2024). A critical race culture cycle study of class inequities in higher education. Journal of Social Issues. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12653
• Valle, I. & Covarrubias, R. (2024). Stories of conflict, agency, and hope: Dominant narratives underlying home-school mismatches for first-generation Latina students. Qualitative Psychology, 11(3), 465–490. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000302
• Valle, I., Quinteros, K., & Covarrubias, R. (2023). Security as servingness: Examining links between food insecurity and performance at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000492
• Covarrubias, R. & Valle, I. (2023). “The in-between space of independence and interdependence: Low-income, Latinx students navigate paradoxes in home and school contexts.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231180148
• Covarrubias, R., Laiduc, G., & Valle, I. (2022). What institutions can learn from the navigational capital of minoritized students. Journal of First-generation Student Success, 2(1), 36-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/26906015.2022.2065109
• Covarrubias, R., De Lima, F., Landa, I., Valle, I., & Flores-Hernandez, W. (2021). Facets of family achievement guilt for low-income, Latinx and Asian first-generation students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 27(4), 696–704. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000418
• Covarrubias, R., Vasquez, A., Moreno, R., Estrada, J., Valle, I., & Zuñiga, K. (2020). Engaging families to foster the holistic success of low-income, Latinx first-generation students at a Hispanic-serving institution. In G. A. Garcia (Ed.), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Practice: Defining “Servingness” at HSIs. Information Age Publishing.
• Covarrubias, R., Valle, I., Laiduc, G., & Azmitia, M. (2019). “You never become fully independent”: Family roles and independence of first-generation college students. Journal of Adolescent Research, 34(4), 381-410. https//doi.org/10.1177/0743558418788402
• Covarrubias, R., Laiduc, G., Valle, I. (2019). Culturally-relevant growth messages unexpectedly undermine women’s help-seeking in a STEM gateway course. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(3), 434-451. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430218802958