In addition to her full time responsibilities in the Institutional Research Office at College of the Canyons, Preeta Saxena teaches for the Sociology Department.  She earned a B.S. in Sociology/Law and Society at UC Riverside (2002), an M.A. in Sociology from CSUN (2007) and a Ph.D. in Sociology, Criminology and Gender Studies at UC Riverside (2012). She completed a Post-Doctoral Training appointment at UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse Programs (2014), and is currently the Senior Research Analyst at COC’s Institutional Research, Planning & Institutional Effectiveness office.

Her research areas are in integrating topics of gender, stigma, criminal behavior, and substance use.  She is particularly interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of the role that social standards of masculinity/femininity and social stigma play in explaining differential patterns of substance abuse and treatment both between men and women as well as among women. In addition, her recent appointment in research in higher education has included work on improving placement processes for students.