Anne McAlister

Anne McAlister is an Assistant Professor in the First Year Engineering Center at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on engineering identity, teamwork, and sociotechnical thinking to broaden participation in engineering education. She holds a Ph.D. in Education and M.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University. Dr. McAlister’s work addresses barriers to success in engineering education and strengthens sociotechnical thinking among first-year students.

Her research interests center on understanding and challenging systemic obstacles in engineering education, particularly regarding identity formation and inclusive pedagogies. Key areas include engineering culture’s impact on mental health, interdisciplinary science and engineering integration in K-12 classrooms, and graduate student role identity development.

Recent publications explore elements of engineering culture affecting student mental health, inclusive classroom practices in NGSS-aligned curricula, and the multifaceted roles of engineering doctoral students. She teaches ENGR 1010: Engineering Foundations 1, emphasizing foundational skills for first-year engineering students.

Dr. McAlister’s work has been published in leading journals like the Journal of Engineering Education and Science Education. Her research methodologies include mixed methods and grounded theory approaches to study identity development and educational equity.