ASPIRE Research
Team
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Justin C. Major, Ph.D., MSAAE
Justin C. Major, Ph.D., MSAAE
Email: majorj@rowan.edu
Personal Website: www.justincmajor.com
Rowan: https://engineering.rowan.edu/faculty_staff/listing/justin-major.html
Office Phone: (856) 256-5776
Address: Engineering Hall 127,
401 N. Campus Drive,
Glassboro, NJ, 08106
Dr. Justin C. Major (they/them) is an Assistant Professor of Experiential Engineering Education and Faculty Fellow for the Division of Student Access and Pathway Programs at Rowan University, where they lead ASPIRE Lab (Advancing Student Pathways through Inequality Research in Engineering). Justin’s research focuses on low-income students, engineering belonging, mental health, adverse childhood experiences, and connects these topics to broader understandings of student success in engineering. Justin is a previous NSF Graduate Research Fellow and has won over two dozen awards for research, service, and activism. As a previous homeless and food-insecure student, Justin is eager to challenge and change engineering education to be a pathway for socioeconomic mobility and broader systemic improvement rather than an additional barrier.
Positions:
Assistant Professor; Experiential Engineering Education; Rowan University
Faculty Fellow; Division of Student Access & Pathways; Rowan University
Associate Editor; Journal of Women & Minorities in Science & Engineering
Guest Editor; "Special Issue: From Classroom to Career: Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being Across Engineering Education Communities;" Educational Sciences
Faculty Advisor; Society for Low-Income and First-Generation Engineers (S-LiFE)
Education:
Ph.D., Engineering Education, Purdue University (2022)
Certificate of Inclusive Excellence, Purdue University (2021)
M.S., Aeronautics & Astronautics, Purdue University (2021)
B.S., Secondary Education (Mathematics), University of Nevada, Reno (2017)
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno (2017)
Professional Memberships:
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh)
Honors and Awards:
Fellow; Loughborough University, Institute of Advanced Studies (2026)
American Society for Engineering Education Best Overall Paper (2026)
American Society for Engineering Education Best PIC IV Paper (2026)
American Society for Engineering Education Educational Research and Methods Division Best Paper (2026)
American Society for Engineering Education Educational Research and Methods Division Best Diversity Paper - Runner Up (2026)
KEEN Campus Rising Star (2026)
Fellow; National Science Foundation Quantitative Ethnography Institute (QE; 2025)
Rowan University Frances S. Johnson Junior Faculty Innovation Teaching Award (2025)
Fellow; National Science Foundation Learning Analytics for STEM Education Research Institute (2025)
Fellow; Engineering Unleashed (2024)
Scholar; National Science Foundation Institute in Critical Quantitative, Computational, and Mixed Methodologies (ICQCM; 2024)
Outstanding Graduate Student Service Scholarship & Award; Purdue University, College of Engineering (2022)
Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship; Purdue University (2022)
American Society for Engineering Education Educational Research and Methods Division Best Diversity Paper (2020)
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2017)
Henry Albert Senior Public Service Award; University of Nevada, Reno (2017)
Graduate Researchers
Graduate Researchers
Beena Baruwal
she/her
M.S. Student
Engineering
Rowan University
Research Interests:
Patient Care in R&D
Biomedical Devices
Ava Huth
she/her
Ph.D. Student
Engineering Education
Rowan University
Research Interests:
Mental Health
Engineering Culture
Narjes Khorsandi Koujel
she/her
Ph.D. Candidate
Engineering Education
Rowan University
Research Interests:
Iranian Women's Experiences in Engineering
Emotions & Trauma
Fatemeh Mirmahdi
she/her
Ph.D. Student
Engineering Education
Rowan University
Research Interests:
Influences of Engineering Culture on Mental Health
Machine Learning
Ash Quadd
they/them
Ph.D. Candidate
Engineering Education
Rowan University
Research Interests:
LGBTQ+ Experiences in Engineering
Identity Negotiation
Undergraduate Researchers
Undergraduate Researchers
Michael Galicia Sandre
he/him
Electrical & Computing Engineering
Rowan University
Research Interests:
Low-income Students
Maria Maione
she/her
Electrical & Computing Engineering
Rowan University
Research Interests:
Assistive Technology
Abi Rhodes
she/her
Mechanical
Engineering
Rowan University
Research Interests:
Childhood Trauma
Mental Health
Rachel Thai
she/her
Information Systems & Analytics
Rowan University
Research Interests:
Data Analytics
STEM Student Success
Educational Equity
ASPIRE Alumni
ASPIRE Alumni
Graduate Alumni
Graduate Alumni
Martha Lucia Morales Cano, Ph.D. ('25)
she/her
Assistant Professor
Electrical Engineering
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Dissertation: Intentions of attrition of Colombian women in engineering: A quantitative analysis of organizational, career, and identity factors
Undergraduate Alumni
Undergraduate Alumni
Isabel Rivera ('23)
she/her
Senior Analyst
L'Orèal
Erwin Wambi ('26)
he/him
Masters Student
Higher Education
Rowan University
Patrick Riley ('26)
he/him
TBD
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