Maria Vieira is a migrant woman, Lecturer in Education Futures at the University of South Australia. She holds a PhD in STEM and a Master's Degree in Psychology of Creativity and is a member of the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L).
Her research and teaching interests centre on empowering learners through: Creative Self-Beliefs, with a particular focus on building Creative Confidence; Human-AI Collaboration, exploring how emerging technologies can enhance creative and critical thinking; Equity and Intersectionality, investigating inclusive approaches to education and innovation; and Design Thinking, as a framework to develop adaptable, future-ready capabilities in learners
She has published multiple first-author articles in Q1 journals in the fields of creativity and education and have received international media coverage, helping shape broader conversations about equity and innovation in education.
At UniSA, she leads key initiatives in course coordination, curriculum development, and outreach programs—most notably, the STEM Girls Academy, which empowers young women in STEM and strengthens the university’s engagement with the broader community. In her current role, she coordinates gender equity programs that reach over 200 schoolgirls annually across South Australia and Victoria, while building strong partnerships with industry leaders to provide students with real-world, hands-on experiences.
Driven by a desire to create meaningful impact in higher education, she is also contributing to curriculum development at the new Adelaide University, playing a central role in designing one of its flagship common core courses, Igniting Change: Ideas to Action.
Passionate about bridging the gap between research and practice, she communicates her work across multiple contexts and languages (English, Spanish, and Portuguese) to drive positive change in education locally and globally.