Maura Borrego
· ProfessorUniversity of Texas at Austin · Mechanical Engineering
Active 2005–2026
Academic metrics are sourced from OpenAlex and public funding records; values may differ from Google Scholar.
About
Maura Borrego is a professor holding the E.P. Schoch Professorship in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. She specializes in engineering education research, focusing on factors that support the successful transfer of Hispanic engineering students from two-year to four-year institutions, undergraduate student resistance to active learning, decision-making processes of engineering instructors regarding teaching, learning in graduate engineering research groups, interdisciplinary education, and teamwork. Dr. Borrego has been awarded National Science Foundation grants for her research and has received notable awards including the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), a NSF CAREER award, and two outstanding publication awards from the American Educational Research Association. She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Engineering Education and holds leadership roles within the American Society for Engineering Education, including Vice President for Professional Interest Councils and Chair of Professional Interest Council IV. Her academic background is in Materials Science and Engineering, with a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and both an M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. Dr. Borrego also serves as the Director of the Center for Engineering Education and is involved in various committees related to STEM education and curriculum development.
Research topics
- Computer Science
- Psychology
- Medicine
- Medical education
- Mathematics education
- Engineering
- Pedagogy
- Artificial Intelligence
- Engineering ethics
- Political Science
Selected publications
Instructor strategies to aid implementation of active learning: a systematic literature review
International Journal of STEM Education · 2021 · 163 citations
Abstract Background Despite the evidence supporting the effectiveness of active learning in undergraduate STEM courses, the adoption of active learning has been slow. One barrier to adoption is instructors’ concerns about students’ affective and behavioral responses to active learning, especially student resistance. Numerous education researchers have documented their use of active learning in STEM classrooms. However, there is no research yet that systematically analyzes these studies for strat…
Journal of Engineering Education · 2020 · 123 citations
Abstract Background One emerging approach to diversity and inclusion in engineering is to take an assets‐based view of what students from nondominant communities bring to their education and work experiences. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this review is to understand how community cultural wealth (CCW), an assets‐based framework, has been applied in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education research. We address research questions focused on (a) the characteristics of…
Self-efficacy and belonging: the impact of a university makerspace
International Journal of STEM Education · 2021 · 88 citations
Abstract Background In recent years, makerspaces have become increasingly common venues of STEM education and are rapidly being incorporated into undergraduate programs. These spaces give students and instructors access to advanced design technology and facilitate the incorporation of a wide variety of projects into the curriculum; however, their impacts on students are not yet fully understood. Using matched survey responses (i.e., repeated measures) from undergraduate students enrolled in engi…
PLoS ONE · 2022 · 44 citations
Discussions about science and engineering postdoctoral researchers focus almost exclusively on academic postdocs and their chances of eventually securing tenure-track faculty positions. Further, biological sciences dominate policy research and published advice for new PhDs regarding postdoctoral employment. Our analysis uses the Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of Doctorate Recipients to understand employment implications for physical sciences and engineering (PSE) and life sciences (LS) g…
Disability and postsecondary fieldwork experiences in the natural sciences: A systematic review
Journal of Research in Science Teaching · 2024-10-10 · 9 citations
reviewOpen accessSenior authorAbstract We present a systematic review of 29 empirical studies on disability and fieldwork in natural science, postsecondary educational settings. Undergraduate students with disabilities are underrepresented in STEM, and disciplines requiring major field components are some of the least diverse, at least in part because fieldwork has been traditionally viewed as hard, physical, and masculine. Disability Studies in Education (DSE) frames the research questions, inclusion criteria and results. S…
Recent grants
NSF · $200k · 2009–2013
NSF · $300k · 2024–2025
Collaborative Research: Understanding and Reducing Student Resistance as a Barrier to Faculty Change
NSF · $164k · 2014–2018
Frequent coauthors
- 140 shared
David B. Knight
Pennsylvania State University
- 98 shared
Maya Denton
University of Oklahoma
- 83 shared
Anita Patrick
Clemson University
- 80 shared
Nathan Hyungsok Choe
George Washington University
- 73 shared
Cynthia Finelli
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
- 63 shared
Andrea Ogilvie
Mitchell Institute
- 59 shared
Gabriella Coloyan Fleming
The University of Texas at Austin
- 58 shared
Jeffrey E. Froyd
Texas A&M University
Education
B.S., Materials Science and Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.S., Materials Science and Engineering
Stanford University
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Stanford University
Awards & honors
- U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engi…
- National Science Foundation CAREER award
- two outstanding publication awards from the American Educati…
Similar researchers at University of Texas at Austin
- Resume-aware match score
- Save to shortlist
- AI-drafted outreach
See your match with Maura Borrego
PhdFit ranks faculty by your research interests, methods, and publications — grounded in their actual work, not templates.
- Free to start
- No credit card
- 30-second signup