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Kremen School of Education and Human Development

Varaxy Yi Borromeo

Assistant Professor

Educational Leadership | 559.278.0309 | Office: ED365

varaxy@csufresno.edu

Education

  • University of Denver - Ph.D. Higher Education
    • Cognate: Research Methods and Statistics
  • San Jose State University - M.L.I.S. Library and Information Science
  • University of the Pacific - B.S. Business Administration
  • University of the Pacific - B.A. English            

Courses Taught

Master's Courses
  • HEAL 220: Introduction to Higher Education
  • HEAL 228: Current Issues in Higher Education
  • EAD 261: Introduction to Education Administration
  • EAD 269: Site-Based Leadership
  • ERE 153: Educational Statistics
Doctoral Courses
  • EDL 580T: Contemporary Issues in Higher Education
  • EDL 580T: Women in Global Higher Education
  • EDL 502: Education Reform
  • EDL 507: Qualitative Research
  • EDL 580T: Critical Qualitative Inquiry
Varaxy Yi (she/her) is an assistant professor of Educational Leadership. She also serves as the coordinator of the Higher Education Administration and Leadership (HEAL) graduate program. She is a core faculty member of the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership.

As a first-generation Khmer/Cambodian American graduate and faculty, Dr. Yi is committed to advancing knowledge to serve racially minoritized communities. She conducts research to advance equity, access, and opportunity for historically underserved communities, such as racially minoritized, Southeast Asian American, and refugee populations. Her dissertation was a phenomenological exploration of the racialized experiences of Southeast Asian American community college students. She is a consistent contributor to scholarly knowledge, having published in peer-reviewed journals, such as The Review of Higher Education, Review of Education Research, and the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.

Currently, she serves as the President of the Asian Faculty and Staff Association (AFSA), working closely with the board to support the needs of Asian Pacific Islander and Desi staff, faculty, and students on campus. She also serves in other capacities on campus (Tenure-Track Faculty Organization, CAIFE). She is also an active member of the higher education and student affairs discipline, currently serving a three-year term as the Communications Chair for the Association for the Study of Higher Education Council for the Advancement of Higher Education Programs. She is a 2020-2021 NASPA Emerging Faculty Leader. Dr. Yi is also a Gates Millennium Scholar. 

Dr. Yi values collectivism and collaboration in her research and work. She is a member of the Southeast Asian American (SEAAster) Scholars Collective, a group of SEAA women scholars committed to advancing knowledge with and by SEAA communities. Learn more about the collective via this podcast.
Dr. Yi's research seeks to understand transformational, systemic, and cultural shifts within education systems. Specifically, she works towards these goals through three overarching research foci, with an emphasis on racially minoritized populations:
  • Racial Equity: Utilize critical theories of race to explore the racialized experiences of racially minoritized populations in education.
  • Racialized Campus Environments and Success: Analyze campus racial climates and cultures to explore their impact on diverse students’ college success.
  • Organizational Change and Institutional Equity: Explore the factors and conditions that are necessary for transforming higher education organizations to better achieve equity and inclusion.
Current Research Projects

Selected Publications

Sotto-Santiago, S., Mac, J., Sharp, S., Haywood, A., Messmore, N., Tyson, M., & Yi, V. (2021). Reclaiming the mission of academic medicine: An examination of institutional responses to (anti)racism. AEM Education and Training, 5(S1), 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1002/aet2.10668

Kiyama, J. M., Yi, V., & Contreras, L. (2020). Refugee students and postsecondary realities: New Directions for Higher Education, 2020(191), 5-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/he.20377**

Saelua, N., Yi, V., Na, V. S., & Museus, S. D. (2020). Refugee lifemaking: (Re)Centering the refugee narrative through feminist refugee epistemology. In J. Kiyama, V. Yi, & L. Contreras (Eds.), Refugee students and postsecondary realities: New Directions for Higher Education, 2020(191), 67-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/he.20383**

**This NDHE volume was produced in 2020-21, with an actual release of July 2021. However, the coronavirus pandemic disrupted Wiley production schedules and to maintain sequential volume issues and dates, NDHE backdated several volumes.

Mac, J., Yi, V., Na, V., Thaviseth, L., Phommasa, M., & Pheng, L. M. (2021). The SEAAster Scholars Collective: A story of homemaking in academia. 16(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.7771/2153-8999.1233

Yi, V., & Ramos, D. (2021). Collective achievement and resistance: Understanding the motivations of doctoral women of color. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000296

Yi, V., Mac, J., Na, V. S., Venturanza, R. J., Museus, S. D., Buenavista, T. L., & Pendakur, S. L. (2020). Toward an anti-imperialistic critical race analysis of the model minority myth. Review of Educational Research. Online. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654320933532

Ramos, D. & Yi, V. (2020). Doctoral women of color coping with racism and sexism in the academy. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 15, 135-138.

Ramos, D. & Yi, V. (2020). Resistance narratives: Counterstories of two Black women doctoral students. In P. Felder, M. J. Baker, & M. Gasman (Eds.), Sankofa: African American perspectives of race and culture in US doctoral education. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Yi, V. & Kiyama, J. M. (2018). Failed educational justice: Refugee students’ postsecondary realities in restrictive times. ASHE-NITE-Lumina Policy Report on Immigrant and Refugee Students. National Institute for Transformation and Equity: Bloomington, IN.

Museus, S. D., Yi, V., & Saelua, N. (2018). How culturally engaging campus environments influence sense of belonging: An examination of differences between white students and students of color. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 11(4), 467-483.

Museus, S. D., Yi, V., & Saelua, N. (2017). The impact of culturally engaging campus environments on sense of belonging. Review of Higher Education, 40(2), 187-215.

Yi, V. & Museus, S. D. (2015).The model minority myth. In J. Stone (Ed.), The Blackwell encyclopedia of race, ethnicity and nationalism. Boston, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Museus, S. D., & Yi, V. (2015). Rethinking student involvement and engagement: Cultivating culturally relevant and responsive contexts for campus participation. In D. Mitchell, E. Daniele, K. Soria, & J. Gipson (Eds.), Student involvement and academic outcomes: Implications for diverse student populations. New York, NY: Peter Lang Press.

Museus, S. D., & Yi, V. (2014). Asian American college students. In P. Sasso & J. DeVitis (Eds.), Today’s college student. New York, NY: Peter Lang Press.