Ms Maria Vieira

Maria Vieira is a Lecturer in Education Futures and PhD Candidate in STEM at the University of South Australia. In her current position, she coordinates gender equity programs in the Outreach team involving more than 500 schoolgirls in South Australia and Victoria. She is passionate about delivering innovative education experiences that cultivate creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths - to educate and inspire females in this field. A fundamental part of her work is to develop partnerships with leading companies in the industry to provide students with hands-on experiences that allow them to apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Industry parners include BAE Systems, OZ Minerals, SANTOS, Inspiring SA and others.After working for more than five years for technology companies in Australia and overseas, she felt encouraged to make a meaningful contribution to increasing female participation in this STEM. More specifically, her research focuses on understanding the contribution of creative confidence to closing the gender gap in this field. Ultimately, she aims to raise awareness of non-cognitive aspects of education and the relevance of innovative methodologies to address a new learning approach to increase women's interest and retention in disciplines in which they are still under-represented. 

Maria Vieira is also an active member of Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) and has also acted a tutor at the UniSA College.

Qualifications

• Master of Psycocreativity University of Barcelona

• Bachelor of Social Communication Regional University of Blumenau

• Diploma of Social Media Marketing Ironwood Institute

• Certificate IV in Training and Assessment Inspire Education

Work history

I hold over 13 years of experience in digital marketing and communications, working for many startups and global technology corporations in Australia and overseas. My multi-disciplinary background includes a holistic approach to marketing, being able to plan, implement and execute marketing strategies accross several industries.