María is a current doctoral student at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work and a recipient of the Graduate School Recruitment Fellowship. María has earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and holds two master’s degrees: one in National Security and Defense from Escuela Superior de Guerra General Rafael Reyes Prieto (Colombia), and another in Social Work (MSW) from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she graduated with the highest distinction, having achieved the top academic performance in her cohort.
She has participated in various research projects related to migration, gender, and family. Her academic production focuses on Latin American migration, parenting, gender, labor, and vulnerability. She has coauthored more than fifteen articles in indexed journals and four book chapters, serving as first author in some of them. Spanish is María’s native language, with English and French as secondary languages. Her publications have been written in both English and Spanish.
She has over four years of experience as an adjunct professor at different universities in Chile, teaching courses in Social Work Research. Her teaching and research experience has also included mentoring students, supporting the development of research skills, as well as supervising and reviewing undergraduate theses.
María will work closely with her mentor, Dr. Esther Calzada, collaborating on her research project “Implementing ParentCorps in Corpus Christi Independent School District”. In addition, she collaborates on a research project at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile that addresses the socioemotional challenges faced by Latin American migrant mothers residing in Santiago.
Building on her academic training and professional work, María’s goal is to highlight the difficulties experienced by migrant women and the coping strategies they use in the migratory context, to promote academic collaboration with Latin America, and to generate knowledge that informs both research and the design of social policies.