Dr. Krista M. Soria (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Leadership and Counseling at the University of Idaho. Dr. Soria has worked in higher education for over 20 years, serving in positions including admissions, financial aid, academic advising, student support services, TRIO programs, institutional research, assessment, and policy analysis. She has taught over 185 individual course sections on topics like quantitative research, research design, leadership, higher education administration, assessment, technical writing, adult learning theories, community-building—and more—to thousands of undergraduate and graduate students.

Dr. Soria has been a Principal Investigator on several grants, including a large grant through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), and has served as an external evaluator for grants. She also works as a research associate with the National Center for College Students with Disabilities and is a research collaborator with the #RealCollege survey at the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.

• critical lens toward inclusion, social justice, and equity-based practices
• how higher education institutions can create a more supportive campus climate for students from diverse backgrounds
• learning and development outcomes associated with students’ engagement in a variety of curricular and co-curricular programs
• institutional outcomes, such as retention and graduation rates, and the conditions that help students to learn, thrive, and grow

Dr. Soria is a critical quantitative researcher seeking to investigate the most equitable and inclusive programmatic practices and institutional conditions to prepare students to engage in the complexities of social change. She examines how higher education institutions can create a more supportive campus climate for students from diverse backgrounds, whether programs are equitably accessible and beneficial to all students, and how we can create structural conditions to support students’ development and success.

Dr. Soria has researched the experiences of students from marginalized backgrounds (e.g., working-class students, first-generation students, students with disabilities); the benefits of students’ community and co-curricular engagement; students’ engagement in social change; students’ mental health; students’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic; and students’ development of critical leadership outcomes including socially responsible leadership, social change behaviors, social perspective taking, and social generativity. Dr. Soria has published over 75 peer-reviewed journal articles, edited five books, and authored a volume on social class in higher education. She recently co-edited a New Directions for Student Leadership volume on evidence-based practices in leadership education.

Dr. Soria supports efforts at the National Center on College Students with Disabilities, the S-STEM program at Augsburg University, and the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice. She is also a reviewer at several higher education and student affairs journals.

During the 2021-2022 academic year, Dr. Soria will be working on projects on the following themes:

• College students’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: an investigation of underrepresented, disenfranchised, and marginalized students’ mental health, financial hardships, and other challenges during the pandemic
• College students with disabilities: an examination of students’ basic needs insecurity, mental health, and experiences navigating institutional resources
• Mentorship for college students: outcomes for college students from diverse backgrounds 
• Collegiate experiences associated with the development of spirituality, social perspective taking, social change behaviors, social capital, and social generativity among college students

• Soria, K. M., Brazelton, G. B., & Roberts, B. J. (in press). Resident assistants’ leadership efficacy. Journal of College and University Student Housing.
• Soria, K. M., & Horgos, B. (2021). Factors associated with college students’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of College Student Development, 62(2), 236-242.
• Soria, K. M. (2021). The social class cost barriers to engagement in leadership experiences In S. Ardoin & K. Guthrie (Eds.), New Directions for Student Services, 162: Social class identity in student affairs (pp. 49-62). Jossey-Bass.
• Soria, K. M., Brazelton, G. B., Belrose, M. R., Blamo, M., Diekemper, K. M., & Kaste, K. (2020). Enriching college students’ leadership efficacy. Journal of Leadership Education, 19(4), 87-97.
• Soria, K. M., & Johnson, M. R. (2020). Introduction: A conceptual framework for evidence-based leadership development practices. In Johnson, M. R., & Soria, K. M. (Eds.). (2020). New Directions for Student Leadership: No. 168. Evidence-based practices to strengthen leadership development. Jossey-Bass.
• Soria, K. M., & Johnson, M. R. (2020). Experiential components of co-curriculars: High-impact opportunities for social change and perspective taking within student organizations. In Johnson, M. R., & Soria, K. M. (Eds.). (2020). New Directions for Student Leadership: No. 168. Evidence-based practices to strengthen leadership development. Jossey-Bass.
• Soria, K. M., Werner, L., Chandiramani, N., Day, M., & Asmundson, A. (2019). Co-curricular engagement as catalysts toward students’ leadership development and multicultural competence. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 56(2), 207-220.
• Soria, K. M., Werner, L., & Nath, C. (2019). Leadership experiences and perspective taking among college students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 56(2), 138-152.
• Soria, K. M. (Ed.). (2019). Evaluating campus climate at U.S. research universities: Opportunities for diversity and inclusion. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Soria, K. M. (2018). Bridging the divide: Addressing social class disparities in higher education. Diversity & Democracy, 21(4).
• Mitchell, T. D., & Soria, K. M. (Eds.). (2017). Educating for citizenship and social justice. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Soria, K. M., & Mitchell, T. D. (Eds.) (2016). Civic engagement and community service at research universities: Engaging undergraduates for social justice, social change, and responsible citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Soria, K. M. (2015). Welcoming blue collar scholars into the ivory tower: Developing class-conscious strategies for students’ success. National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.