Sepideh Mahani is the Associate Dean (Education) at Yorkville University where she also Chairs the Master of Education Leadership program. She holds degrees in Education Leadership (PhD and MEd), Political Science (BA) and Teaching English to Foreign Learners (TEFL). For over 20 years, she has worked as an educator in several national and international educational settings.

Sepideh’s research interests span a wide range of issues including social justice and diversity in education, humanizing pedagogy, culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy, first-generation students, and gender equality in education. Her work has been published in several books and journals such as Qualitative Inquiry, The Journal of First-Generation Student Success, Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry and The Journal of International Education Research. She is the co-author of Sister Scholars: Untangling Issues of Identity as Women in Academe, published by DIO Press in 2021. She is currently engaged in research on culturally responsive teaching and practices in online settings.

Research Interests: critical qualitative inquiry, reflexive inquiry, social justice, diversity in education, culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy and gender equality in education.