Maria C. Olivares, PhD
Research Scientist
Artist
Navigator
Thank you for visiting my website! I am a Research Assistant Professor at Boston University's Earl Center for Learning and Innovation and the BU Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. As an educational researcher, I work to explicitly acknowledge and disrupt the role of race and racism as obstacles for achieving equity in STEM through research, practice, professional development, mentoring, and outreach activities.
Through design-based research, I work with youth, teachers, community partners, and researchers to design formal and informal learning environments that support expansive and creative inquiry in STEM. My research focuses on youth of color, social justice, equity, intellectual authority distribution, critical making and the role of computation and new learning technologies in STEM identity development.
I come from struggle and strength.
Mis padres son mi fortaleza.
I'm an Aries, by the way.
01About me
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California by two selfless and hard-working parents, Leonor and Pedro. My parents instilled in me the value of an education as a means to better myself and achieve a life of opportunities they could only dream of. Heeding their advice and guidance, I have dedicated myself to the pursuit of higher education. I am a steadfast supporter of genuine and holistic equity-oriented educational reform, committed to collaborative creation and cultivation of educational opportunities for youth of color in STEM.
EDUCATION
PhD, Education
University of California, Los Angeles
M.A., Education
University of California, Los Angeles
B.A., Chicana/o Studies & History
University of California, Los Angeles
RESEARCH
Critical Relationality
Technical Rationality
Critical Race Theory
Curricular STEM Reform
Diversity & Equity in STEM Education
Critical Media Literacy
STEM Literacies
STEM Identity
Making Cultures and Practices
03mis queridos padres
Dondequiera que voy...
Hablo de ustedes, de sus sacrificios, de su trabajo laboroso, del valor que me inculcaron para seguir luchando por una mejor vida. Hablo sobre la herencia que me dejaron--una herencia que vive dentro de mi mente y mi corazón, que jamas podré perder, gastar, y que nadie me podrá quitar: mi educación.