Dulce Maria Scott was born in São Miguel, Azores, and migrated to the United States at the age of 18. She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and political science from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. She later completed a master's degree in political science and a PhD in sociology from Brown University, Rhode Island. She is currently a professor at Anderson University, Indiana, and a researcher at the Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies, at the Rhode Island College. She is the founder of the scientific journal Interdisciplinary Journal of Portuguese Diaspora Studies. Her research interests include immigration, ethnicity and race in America and her most recent studies have focused the Lusodescendants.