Faculty Profile for Dr. Lisa Marie Baumgartner

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Lisa M. Baumgartner is a Professor of Adult Education at Texas State University, San Marcos. She received her doctorate in Adult Education from the University of Georgia in 2000. Her research and writing focus on adult learning and development in marginalized populations and transformative learning. She has taught courses in adult development, adult learning, critical and feminist theory, feminist pedagogy, teaching adults, methods of inquiry, and education for older adults.

A recipient of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Cyril O. Houle Scholars Research Grant for Emerging Scholars in Adult Education, she completed a study on civil rights activist Septima P. Clark’s lifelong contributions to adult education. She received the Early Career Award from the Commission of Professors of Adult Education. She also received the Cyril O. Houle Award for Outstanding Literature in Adult Education for the co-authored text Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (3rd & 4th eds). She was a co-editor of Adult Education Quarterly and serves on numerous editorial boards. In 2015, she was a co-recipient of the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals Campus-Based Research/Literature Award, Region IV-W, for her research concerning student affairs professionals’ experiences in learning assessment. In 2019, she received the Circle of 50 Award from the Learning, Leadership, and Organizational Development Program at the University of Georgia. Awardees are seen as having made an impact on the research and practice of adult education, learning, leadership, and organizational development. She was inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame in 2024.

Her research and scholarship have appeared in Adult Education Quarterly, Learning, Culture, and Social Interaction, Gender, Work and Organization, Journal of Transformative Education, Qualitative Health Research, Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research, Dialogues in Social Justice, The Qualitative Report, New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, Human Resource Development Review and Adult Learning.

Teaching Interests

Foundations of Adult Education; Adult Learning Theory, Feminist Pedagogy, Critical Pedagogy, Trends and Issues in Adult Education, Education for Older Adults, Teaching Adults, Methods of Inquiry, History, Philosophy, and Contemporary Issues in Adult Education

Research Interests

Dr. Baumgartner is interested in adult learning and development in marginalized populations. She has authored or co-authored articles concerning:

(1) The learning and identity development of people living with HIV or AIDS (PLWHAs), (2) The learning and development of women in gender-responsive programs in jail. (3) The contributions of Septima P. Clark (civil rights activist) to adult education (4) The learning of women who exit out of the sex trade
(5) Mid-level managers' supervisory learning journeys (6) Various learning theories
(7) Literature reviews concerning the representation of older adults, women, and the LGBTQ community in adult education journals.

Her texts include:

Baumgartner, L. M., & Merriam, S.B. (2000). (Eds). Adult learning and development: Multicultural stories. Krieger.

Merriam, S.B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007) Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide (3rd ed). Jossey-Bass.

Merriam, S. B. & Baumgartner, L. M. (2020). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide (4th ed). Jossey-Bass.

Coryell,J. E., Baumgartner, L. M., & Bohonos, J. W. (Eds.) (2024). Methods for facilitating adult learning: Strategies for enhancing instruction and instructor effectiveness. Routledge.

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