Faculty Directory

Janice Mejia

Associate Professor of Instruction of Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences

Contact

Departments

Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences

Affiliations

Master of Engineering Management Program

Education

• Ph.D. Mathematics and Science Education, University of Illinois at Chicago
• M.A. Higher Education Leadership, Northeastern Illinois University
• M.A. Applied Professional Studies in Organizational Leadership, DePaul University
• B.S. Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Northwestern University

Research Interests

Dr. Mejia is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences. She also teaches in the Design Thinking and Communication (DTC), Master in Engineering Management (MEM), and College Prep programs. Her research interests focus on mixed methods research in engineering education, curriculum assessment and development, and engineering identity. Prior to teaching at Northwestern, she worked in for-profit and non-profit sectors to optimize technologies, processes, and policies in organizations. 

Significant Recognition

• 2025 Best advice giver, Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences Senior Awards Ceremony 
• 2024 Best Paper Award, American Society for Engineering Education IL-IN Section Conference
• 2021 NACADA Region 5 Faculty Award for Excellence in Advising
• 2017 Cole-Higgins Award for Excellence in Advising
• 2016 Associated Student Government (ASG) Faculty Honor Roll for Excellence in Teaching
• 2014 Associated Student Government (ASG) Faculty Honor Roll for Excellence in Teaching

Courses Taught

• Design Thinking and Communication 1 (DSGN 106-1)
• Design Thinking and Communication 2 (DSGN 106-2)
• Industrial Engineering Field Project Methods (IEMS 340)
• Industrial Engineering Client Project Challenge (IEMS 394)
• Industrial Engineering Organizational Behavior (IEMS 342)
• Industrial Engineering Qualitative Methods in Engineering Systems (IEMS 340)
• Industrial Engineering Why IE: Professional Foundations of Industrial Engineering (IEMS 295)
• What’s Your Problem? Innovative Problem Solving Through Design Thinking and Communication (College Prep Seminar)

Selected Publications

Castro, S. K., Carroll, B. F., Mejía, J., and Crippen, K. J. (2025, February). Think-aloud insights: Exploring QuantCrit challenges and diverse survey responses among undergraduate engineering students. Paper presented at 2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD), San Antonio, Texas, United States.

Revelo, R. A., and Mejía, J. (2024). How Latinx students engage in social and navigational capital to resist exclusionary engineering education. In L. Perez-Felkner, S. L. Rodriguez, and C. Fluker (Eds.), Latin* students in engineering: An intentional focus on a growing population (pp. 89-114). Rutgers University Press. DOI: 10.36019/9781978838703-007

Mejía, J., Scharfenberg, K., and Hardin Wilson, J. (2024, June). WIP: Rewriting Capstone: The unexpected solution to our assessment problem. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) National Conference 2024, Portland, Oregon, United States. 10.18260/1-2--48315

Carroll, B. F., Mejía, J., Crippen, K. J., and Castro, S. (2024, June). Latina engineering student graduate study decision processes-development and initial results of a mixed-methods investigation. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) National Conference 2024, Portland, Oregon, United States.

Revelo, R. A., Mejia, J. A., Mejía, J., and Villanueva Alarcon, I. (2024, April). Beyond the monolith: A systematic review of the literature on Latiné/x/a/o students in engineering using a liberative approach. Journal of Engineering Education, (111) 735-739. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20598

Kim, J. and Mejía, J. (2024, April). WIP: Mapping pretest data to learning outcomes to enhance industrial engineering program assessment. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) IL-IN Section Conference 2024, Chicago, IL, United States.

Villanueva, I., Mejia, J. A., Mejia, J. and Revelo, R. A. (2022). Latiné, Latinx, Latina, Latino, or Hispanic: Problematizing terms often used in engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, (111) 735-739. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20486

Mejia, J. A., Villanueva, I., Mejia, J. and Revelo, R. A. (2022). Legitimized tongues: Breaking the traditions of silence in mainstream engineering education and research. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28(2), 53-77.

Mejia, J. A., Revelo, R. A., Villanueva, I., and Mejia, J. (2018). Critical theoretical frameworks in engineering education: An anti-deficit and liberative approach. Education Sciences, 8(4), 158. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8040158