Dr. Germán A. Cadenas joined the faculty at Lehigh University in 2018, after completing his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Arizona State University, and his Doctoral Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California Berkeley. His primary research interests are focused broadly on the psychology of undocumented immigrants, including their sociopolitical activism, educational outcomes, career development, and psychological wellbeing. This line also encompasses the development and validation of cultural competencies and social justice strategies for educators and mental health providers working with immigrant communities. On a second line of research, Dr. Cadenas investigates the utility of critical consciousness as a tool to promote educational equity and career development among communities facing social oppression.
Dr. Germán A. Cadenas identifies as a Latinx immigrant himself and is formerly undocumented. He has a background in policy advocacy and community organizing for immigrant rights, and regularly collaborates with local and national advocacy organizations. His opinion and personal story have been featured in popular media. He currently serves as Vice President for Diversity and Public Interest in the Society of Counseling Psychology (American Psychological Association, Division 17) and is also active in the National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA). His work has received extramural funding and has been published in outlets such as Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Latinx Psychology, The Counseling Psychologist, and Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
Recent Publications:
Cadenas, G.A., Nienhusser, K. (In Press). Immigration status and immigrant college students’ psychosocial wellbeing. Educational Researcher.
Cadenas, G.A., Lynn, N., Melo, K., Liu, L., Cantú, E., Ruth, A., Carroll, S., Kulp, S., & Spence, T. (In Press). Racial and ethnic minority community college students’ critical consciousness and social cognitive career outcomes. The Career Development Quarterly.
Kiehne, E. & Cadenas, G.A. (In Press). Development and validation of the Latinx immigrant threat attitudes scale. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Cadenas, G.A., Peña, D., Minero-Meza, L., Rojas-Arauz, B., & Lynn, N. (2020). Undocumented Latinx immigrant students coping: Critical agency and vocational outcome expectations. Journal of Latinx Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000178
Cadenas, G. A., Cisneros, J., Spanierman, L. B., Yi, J., & Todd, N. R. (2020). Detrimental effects of color-blind racial attitudes in preparing a culturally responsive teaching workforce for immigrants. Journal of Career Development. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845320903380
Cadenas, G. A., Cantú, E. A., Lynn, N., Spence, T., & Ruth, A. (2020). A programmatic intervention to promote entrepreneurial self-efficacy, critical behavior, and technology readiness among underrepresented college students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103350
Cadenas, G. A., Cantú, E. A., Spence, T., & Ruth, A. (2020). Integrating critical consciousness and technology in entrepreneurship career development with diverse community college students. Journal of Career Development, 47(2), 162-176. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845318793968
Dr. Cadenas’ CV can be accessed here.