My Research
Photo: Books by critical scholars
As an uninvited guest and immigrant settler (non-Indigenous person) on Turtle Island (or what is known as North America), my social, gendered and class location inform my research and scholarship. My work and actions are grounded in anti-colonial, anti-racist, and intersectional feminist theories, and Indigenous frameworks. These paradigms and frameworks center my research in knowledge and practices that value justice, community, and relational approaches that advance full participation of historically marginalized students and equity-deserving students in education.
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I love to collaborate on projects and seek co-conspirators for research collaborations centred on racial justice and anti-colonial futures in higher education. Send me a message to collaborate.
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Methods: qualitative research, participatory action research, arts-based research
Keywords: equity and justice, racialized and gendered experiences in education, mental health and well-being, access & success of historically marginalized students and equity-deserving students*, curriculum design, and learning and teaching in higher education.
Project Highlights
Mapping our Journeys: Art-based Testimonios and Pláticas of
Latine Student Success in Canada
Dissertation Research
Latine individuals, those of Abya Yala/Latin American descent, are one of Canada’s fastest growing immigrant populations; yet they face inequities that limit their postsecondary opportunities and outcomes.
My dissertation research focused on Latine student success in higher education and how they perceive the challenges and opportunities in their college or university experience. Findings revealed the ways that racially minoritized Latine students navigate academic and social structures in post-secondary education and the conditions that cultivate Latinx/a/o/* student success in the Canadian context.​
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Toledo, A. E. (2025). Mapping Our Journeys: Art-Based Testimonios and Pláticas of Latine Student Success in Canada (Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto (Canada)).
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A Photovoice Study Exploring the Well-being and Mental Health of Learners’ in the Child and Youth Care Programs
Co-investigator
Co-investigator in art-based qualitative research study that explores learner well-being and mental health in Child and Youth Care programs at a public community college. Photovoice methodology empowers participants as both participants and researchers (Jehangir et al., 2022) to use their own voice to narrate their own lived experiences and promote social change for themselves and their communities (Foster-Fishman 2005; Wang and Burris 1997).
This research was supported by the Office of Research and Innovation and Student Wellness and Equitable Learning at Humber Polytechnic.
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Toledo, E., & Borak, K. (2025). Thriving Against the Odds: A Photovoice Study on Canadian College Students’ Mental Health and Resilience Strategies. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 55(4), 78–93. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v55i4.190599
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Special Issue: The Perspectives of Traditionally Underrepresented Students, Canadian Journal of Higher Education
Co-editors: Dr. Alyson E. King and Nadia Qureshi, Colleen Stevenson, and Estefanía Toledo
In this special issue, we are brought together papers that explore the experiences, supports, and strategies for success of students considered to be traditionally underrepresented at postsecondary education institutions in Canada. Building on the idea that students define success and use supports and success strategies in their own ways (e.g., Pidgeon, 2009), papers in this special issue feature critical perspectives that move the discussion of student experiences beyond a recital of barriers to include a strengths-based perspective that focus on students from demographic groups that have been historically underrepresented in post-secondary education (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities, lower class or socio-economic backgrounds, immigrants, Indigenous and Queer and Trans students (2SLGBTQ+) students, among others), and who have succeeded in continuing their education in spite of the barriers they have faced.
Read the open-access editorial and full issue:
Canadian Journal of Higher Education (2022) Volume 52, Issue 4
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