New Books in Education Leading Toward Liberation: How to Build Cultures of Thriving in Higher Education
Oct 2, 2025
Dr. Annemarie Caño, a clinical health psychologist and former dean, discusses her book, 'Leading Toward Liberation,' focusing on creating supportive academic cultures. Caño shares her journey as a first-generation college student and critiques traditional leadership literature for excluding diverse voices. She emphasizes actionable strategies for institutional change, the importance of empathetic listening, and building a personal mission to combat burnout. Throughout, she inspires listeners to rethink leadership as a collaborative, liberatory practice.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
First-Gen College Struggle And Resilience
- Annemarie Caño recounts being the 'last hope' as the youngest first-gen in a family where older siblings stopped out of college.
- She navigated college applications and financial aid largely on her own, learning to 'figure things out' by necessity.
Leadership As Gatekeeping Removal
- Leading toward liberation reframes leadership as removing gatekeeping so everyone can thrive.
- Caño centers Latin American liberation praxis to guide systemic change rather than individual fixes.
From Personal Slights To Systemic Pattern
- Repeated microaggressions moved Caño from internalizing incidents to seeing systemic patterns across higher ed.
- Leadership roles revealed that exclusionary dynamics were institutional, not just individual failings.
