Hernandez Among Top 20 Latin and Hispanic Professors at Florida Colleges

Sarah Hernandez, associate professor of sociology at New College of Florida, was named one of the Top 20 Latin and Hispanic College professors in Florida by the website Online Schools Florida.
The listing recognizes post-secondary educators who have received awards for excellence in the classroom, on campus or in the community. The website is a division of StateStats.org, which develops online tools for education. “While dozens of Latin and Hispanic professors call Florida home, these 20 made a more-than-noticeable difference in 2012,” its report said.
It noted that Dr. Hernandez received a 2008-2009 Fulbright Garcia-Robles grant to assist her in research into the kinds of relations Mexican unions pursue and have with labor unions in other nations.
It noted that Hernandez received a 2008-2009 Fulbright Garcia-Robles grant to assist her in research into how Mexican labor unions further their goals via collaboration with labor unions in other countries.
Her research in Mexico sought to understand what is the significance of transnational labor collaboration for the workers’ local goals, while also identifying the factors (internal, external, ideological, structural, and economic) that obstruct and facilitate such collaboration.
“The influence free markets have had on the global economy highlights the importance for citizens and workers to work together, ascertaining their human dignity is not sacrificed in this economic system,” Hernandez said.
Her findings confirmed earlier research in noting a clear difference in the way corporatist and independent unions relate to with U.S. labor unions, but also showed for the first time the tendency for Mexican unions to look more toward the south than the north when seeking transnational interaction, and that ideological alignment and common stereotypes play an important role in these relations. The lived experience within both independent and corporatist unions is more complicated than the simplistic representation seen in most previous research, she found.
Dr. Hernandez was born and raised in Mexico. She received her bachelor’s degree from Earlham College and her master’s degree and doctorate from University of Michigan, and has been on the New College faculty since 1996.