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Alex Mejia, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Principal Investigator of Project RESPETO, Bicultural-Bilingual Studies

Alex Mejia, Ph.D.

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Bio

Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is an Associate Professor with joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering and the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to academia, he worked as a project engineer for the Department of Defense, Rio Tinto, and FLSmidth Minerals. Dr. Mejia’s work seeks to analyze and describe the assets, tensions, contradictions, and cultural collisions many Latino/a/x students experience in engineering through pláticas and testimonios. His research has contributed to the integration of critical theoretical frameworks in engineering education to investigate deficit ideologies and their impact on minoritized communities. He is particularly interested in approaches that contribute to a more expansive understanding of engineering in sociocultural contexts, engineering education in bilingual contexts, and the impact of critical consciousness in engineering practice. Dr. Mejia received the NSF CAREER Award in 2020 for his project titled “CAREER: Breaking the Tradition of Silence through Conocimiento and Consciousness Raising among Latinx Engineers.”

 

Teaching

  • Engineering
  • Engineering Education
  • Qualitative Research Methods

Research Interests

  • Latinos/as/xs in engineering
  • STEM Education
  • Funds of Knowledge
  • Engineering Identity

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Engineering Education, Utah State University, 2014
  • M.S., Metallurgical Engineering, The University of Utah, 2013
  • B.S., Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, The University of Texas at El Paso, 2007
  • Graduate Certificate in Mexican American Studies, UTRGV, 2024

 

Honors and Awards

  • Best Diversity Paper Award for the paper "Latino/a/x Engineering Students and Nepantla: A Multi-Case Study within the U.S. Southwest”
    • Year Awarded: 2024
    • Organization: ASEE Educational Research and Methods Division
  • Rising Star Award
    • Year Awarded: 2024
    • Organization: American Society for Engineering Education, The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD)
  • Best Paper Finalist for the paper " Exploring racialized ideologies about Latino/a/x Engineering Students in the United States Southwest Region"
    • Year Awarded: 2023
    • Organization: European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) Conference
  • Best Journal Paper
    • Year Awarded: 2022
    • Organization: Education Sciences
  • William Elgin Wickenden Award for Best Journal Paper
    • Year Awarded: 2022
    • Organization: Journal of Engineering Education
  • Center for Educational Excellence’s Freire and hooks Decolonial Pedagogy Award
    • Year Awarded: 2021
    • Organization: University of San Diego
  • Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award
    • Year Awarded: 2019
    • Organization: National Science Foundation
  • Engineering for Social Justice (ExSJ) Scholar Award
    • Year Awarded: 2019
    • Organization: University of San Diego
  • William Elgin Wickenden Award for “highest standards of scholarly research” in the Journal of Engineering Education for the paper "Latino/a adolescents’ funds of knowledge related to engineering"
    • Year Awarded: 2017
    • Organization: Journal of Engineering Education

Presentations

  • Mejia, J.A. Latino/a/x Engineering Students and Nepantla: A Multi-Case Study within the U.S. Southwest.
    • Location: American Society for Engineering Education, Portland, OR.
    • Presentation Date: 2024
  • Mejia, J.A., Christiansen, M. S. Unpacking Whiteness and Racialization in Engineering: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Social Media Posts.
    • Location: American Society for Engineering Education, Portland, OR.
    • Presentation Date: 2024
  • Montero Moguel, L., Mejia, J.A. Leveraging Mathematical Modeling to Expand Measurement Process Opportunities for Engineering Students.
    • Location: American Society for Engineering Education, Portland, OR.
    • Presentation Date: 2024
  • Montero-Moguel, L., Mejia, J.A., & Carmona, G., (2024). Enhancing decision-making in engineering education: Utilizing Appropriate Technology to integrate technical and social considerations.
    • Location: American Educational Research Association 2024 Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
    • Presentation Date: 2024
  • Mejia, J. A. Nepantla in Engineering: Latino/a/x students confronting normative gender and ethnic expectations in engineering spaces. Proceedings of the 2018 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference
    • Location: Philadelphia, PA.
    • Presentation Date: 2024
  • Olivas, I., Acero, A., Gonzalez, J., Caballero, E., Mejia, J. A. Intersectionality, competences and engineering: an exploratory study in Tec21. Proceedings of the VIII IEEE World Engineering Education Conference (EDUNINE2024)
    • Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala.
    • Presentation Date: 2024
  • Mejia, J. A. Exploring the racialization of Latinos/as/xs in the U.S. Southwest and its implications on deficit ideologies in engineering education. Proceedings of the 2023 Frontiers in Education (FIE) Annual Conference.
    • Location: College Station, TX.
    • Presentation Date: 2023
  • Mejia, J. A., Christiansen, M. S. Racialized discourses in engineering education: What can we learn from raciolinguistics to inform broadening participation in predominantly Latino/a/x engineering spaces? Proceedings of the 2023 Frontiers in Education (FIE) Annual Conference.
    • Location: College Station, TX.
    • Presentation Date: 2023
  • Mejia, J.A. Exploring racialized ideologies about Latino/a/x Engineering Students in the United States Southwest Region.
    • Location: European Society for Engineering Education Conference. Dublin, Ireland.
    • Presentation Date: 2023
  • Mejia, J.A., & Montero Moguel, L. Student Engagement in Sustainability Issues Through Video Production: A Multimodal Critical Consciousness-Based Approach to Engineering Education.
    • Location: European Society for Engineering Education Conference. Dublin, Ireland.
    • Presentation Date: 2023

Grants, Patents and Clinical Trials

  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI), Sidury Christiansen (Co-PI). "Racial Equity: Rhetorical Engineering Education to Support Proactive Equity Teaching and Outcomes (RESPETO). National Science Foundation (DRL) Award #2315095.
    • Total Amount: $3,641,116
    • Duration: 09/01/23 – 08/31/28
    • Role: PI
  • Sidury Christiansen (PI), Joel Alejandro Mejia (Co-PI). Rhetorical Engineering Education to Support Proactive Equity Teaching and Outcomes (RE²SPETO): Linguistic Justice for Racial Equity and Diversity in Engineering Education Programs. UTSA’s College of Education and Human Development.
    • Total Amount: $3,641,116
    • Duration: 09/01/23 – 08/31/28
    • Role: Co-PI
  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI). Collaborative Research: Co-Constructing Faculty Critical Consciousness in Engineering Education. National Science Foundation (DUE) Award #2140647.
    • Total Amount: $119,324
    • Duration: 07/01/22 – 06/30/26
    • Role: PI 
  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI). Collaborative Research: Teaching Engineering Design with a Contextual Perspective. National Science Foundation (DUE) Award #2215788.
    • Total Amount: $114,406
    • Duration: 08/01/22 – 07/31/25
    • Role: PI
  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI). Collaborative Research: Culturally Relevant Mentorship for Enhancing STEM Identity and Career Interests. National Science Foundation (SMA/SBE) Award #2221995.
    • Total Amount: $92,335
    • Duration: 08/01/22 – 07/31/25
    • Role: PI
  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI). The H-E-B Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP) Scholars. H-E-B.
    • Total Amount: $1,000,000
    • Duration: 08/01/22 – 07/31/25
    • Role: PI 
  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI). Development and Implementation of a Module for Introducing Concepts of Social Justice into Engineering Design Assignments. Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
    • Total Amount: $1,000
    • Duration: 01/01/22 – 07/31/22
    • Role: PI
  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI). CAREER: Breaking the Tradition of Silence through Conocimiento and Consciousness Raising among Latinx Engineers. National Science Foundation (EEC) Award #1944807.
    • Total Amount: $579,399
    • Duration: 02/01/20 – 01/31/25
    • Role: PI
  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI), Vitaliy Popov (Co-PI), and Alberto Esquinca (Co-PI). Asset-based Practices in Engineering Design (APRENDE): Formation of Engineers through a Funds of Knowledge Approach. National Science Foundation (EEC) Award #1826354.
    • Total Amount: $349,812
    • Duration: 08/01/18 – 07/31/21
    • Role: PI 
  • Joel Alejandro Mejia (PI). Researching a Strengths-Based Approach to Engineering Education Using Design Squad LatinX. National Science Foundation (DRL) Award #1906913.
    • Total Amount: $112,000
    • Duration: 08/01/20 – 07/31/25
    • Role: PI

Publications

  • Mejia, J.A., Martin, J. (2023). Critical Perspectives on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Research in Engineering Education. In Aditya Johri (Ed.), International Handbook of Engineering Education Research (pp. 218-238). New York, NY: Routledge.
  • Esquinca, A., Mejia, J.A. (2022). Latinx Engineering Students: A Critical Multimodal Analysis of Professional Identity Texts. In Yolanda Medina, Margarita Machado-Casas (Eds.), Encyclopedia of critical understandings of Latinx and global education (vol. 5, pp. 332-354). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill.
  • Mejia, J.A., Revelo, R.A. (2022). Critical literacies in practice: Deconstructing engineering through an engineering social justice course. In Wilson-Lopez, A., Tucker-Raymond, E., Esquinca, A. & Mejia, J. A. (Eds.), Literacies of design: Studies of equity and imagination in engineering and making (pp. 244-259). West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.
  • Mejia, J.A., Fallas Escobar, C., Perez, T. (2024). Low-income, Latino/a/x Engineering Students’ Journey to and through Engineering: Arrebatos and Institutionalized Barriers. Journal of Engineering Education.
  • Mejia, J. A., Fallas Escobar, C., & Perez, T. (2024). Latino/a/x Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Experiences with Racialized Ideologies: The Case of One Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and Three Emerging HSIs. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2024.2343840
  • Revelo, R. A., Mejia, J. A., Mejía, J., & Villanueva Alarcón, I. (2024). Beyond the monolith: A systematic review of the literature on Latiné/x/a/o students in engineering using a liberative approach. Journal of Engineering Education,1-26. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20598
  • Chen, D.A., Forbes, M.H., Hoople, G.D., Lord, S.M., Mejia, J.A. (2023). The “Who” in Engineering: Sociotechnical Engineering as Memorable and Relevant. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, 13(5), 72-90.
  • Mejia, J.A., Villanueva, I., Mejia, J., Revelo, R. (2022). Legitimized tongues: Breaking the traditions of silence in mainstream engineering education and research. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28(2), 53-77.
  • Gelles, L.A., Mejia, J.A., Lord, S.M., Hoople, G.D., Chen, D.A., (2021). Is it All About Efficiency? Exploring Students’ Conceptualizations of Sustainability in an Introductory Energy Course. Sustainability, 13(13), 7188. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137188
  • Secules, S., Groen, C., Mejia, J. A., Beebe, C., Masters, A. S., Sanchez-Peña, M., & Svyantek, M. (2021). Positionality Practices and Dimensions of Impact on Equity Research: A Collaborative Inquiry and Call to the Community. Journal of Engineering Education, 110(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20377
  • Secules, S., & Mejia, J. A. (2021). Contextualizing the Past to Guide the Future: Situating Three Critical Theoretical Frameworks for Educational Culture. Studies in Engineering Education, 1(2), 156–171. DOI: http://doi.org/10.21061/see.51