Vandana Sharma is a fourth-year PhD candidate in Educational Administration, GSE at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. She is a first-generation student and a woman of color. Her research focuses on how intersecting factors of disability, gender, and race contribute to the increased vulnerability to gender-based violence (GBV) for Black adolescent girls with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Specifically, her research explores how organizational policies, practices, and interventions affect, and to what end address, the learning experiences of these minoritized populations who disproportionately experience GBV due to racial dynamics and disability. She is committed to advancing equity, inclusive policies, programmatic interventions, and leadership practices that support and empower minoritized populations in the United States

Current Affiliations

• Board Member of the International Journal of Disability Policy and Advocacy (IJDPA)
• American Educational Research Association (AERA)
• AERA SIGS: Qualitative Research, Research on Women and Education, Disability Studies in Education, and Special & Inclusive Education Research
• University Council of Educational Administration

Scholarships/Awards

• Steinhardt Faculty First-Look Scholar, NYU; 2026
• Duke Feminist Theory Workshop Travel Grant, Gender Institute; 2026
• Research on Women and Education, Travel and Registration Award, AERA; 2026
• Margaret & Paul Bacon Scholarship, GSE, University at Buffalo; 2025
• Dean’s Student Research Award, GSE, University at Buffalo, SUNY; 2025
• RWE Travel Award, AERA, Annual Meeting, Denver; 2025
• Educational Administration Recruitment Scholarship, GSE, UB, SUNY; 2024
• Graduate School of Education Scholarship (Year 1), University at Buffalo, SUNY; 2024
• Barbara Jackson Scholar; UCEA; Funded by the University at Buffalo, SUNY; 2024-2026
• Taher and Myra Razik International Fellowship, University at Buffalo, SUNY; 2024

Publications

• Sharma, V. & Zgliczynski, T. (In Review). IDEA and segregation in the Mid-Atlantic states. School segregation and integration in the United States: Trends and Consequences in Race, Gender, and Disability. TBD.
• Sharma, V. & Zgliczynski, T. (2026)."Crisis in special education: Understanding teacher shortages and retention in the United States. International Journal of Disability Policy and Advocacy. (pp. 1-26).
• Lemke, M. & Sharma, V. (2025). Students with (dis)abilities and gender-based violence. In E. Blair & S. Deckman (Eds.), The SAGE encyclopedia of education and gender (volume 2). (pp. 721-724). SAGE.
• Lemke, M., Jekayinoluwa, J., Petko, D., Sharma, V., & LiPuma, K. (2025). Gender-based violence and sex education in the United States: Expanding medically accurate comprehensive sex education policy and programming. Youth, 5 (4), 127; https://doi.org/10.3390/youth5040127

Ad Hoc Reviewer

• Qualitative Research SIG, AERA, 2027
• Disability Studies in Education SIG, AERA 2027
• Journal of Disability Policy Studies, SAGE
• American Journal of Sexuality Education, Taylor & Francis
• Advancing Women in Educational Leadership
• Disability Studies in Education (DSE) SIG, AERA 2026
• International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE)
• Special and Inclusive Education (SIER), AERA 2026

Employment

• 08/2026- Present Academic Performance Specialist, Division of Athletics, UB, SUNY.
• 08/2024- Present Graduate Student Ambassador, GSE, UB, SUNY
• 08/2023- 01/2026 Scheduling and Student Solutions Specialist
  Assistant, Office of the Registrar, UB, SUNY

GSE Service

• Introducer to the Keynote Speaker, GSE 33rd Research Symposium 2026, University at Buffalo, SUNY.
• Student Planning Committee member and Peer-Reviewer, GSE 33rd Research Symposium 2026, University at Buffalo, SUNY.
• Peer Mentor, Division A “Peer Mentorship Program”, AERA, 2026
• Volunteer, GSE 2025 Convocation, University at Buffalo, SUNY
• Student Planning Committee Co-Chair, GSE 31st Symposium 2024, University at Buffalo, SUNY