Michaela Wawra

Michaela Wawra, MSc, is a Researcher at the University for Continuing Education Krems, affiliated with the Center for General Management. Her work focuses on digital gaming's sociocultural impacts, including crisis management via online gaming, lootbox mechanics, and gender representation in esports. She holds a Master of Science from the University of Vienna (2017), initially in green energy systems before pivoting to digital media studies.

Research Interests:

• Psychosocial effects of online gaming communities
• Educational applications of game-based learning
• Ethical implications of lootbox monetization strategies
• Gender dynamics in sports gaming environments

Publications Highlight: Recent work explores pandemic-era gaming behavior (MMORPGs as Gateway to a Happier Place, 2025) and AI integration in game-based assessment systems (Further and Higher Education, 2024). Earlier research includes energy infrastructure studies (2017).

Academic Engagement: Presented at conferences like FROG 2022 on lootbox mechanics and MAD Media Art forums on pandemic gaming trends. Maintains active scholarly collaborations with Alexander Pfeiffer and Thomas Wernbacher.