Gina Svarovsky

Interim Director, Center for STEM Education; Senior Executive Director, Research Engagement; Professor of the Practice

Gina Svarovsky headshot (updated 2022)
Office
307P Carole Sandner Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone
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Email
gsvarovsky@nd.edu

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Research Interests

Early childhood engineering education, pre-college engineering education, informal/out of school time learning, professional learning for educators, university-community partnerships 

Biography

Gina Navoa Svarovsky is the Senior Executive Director for Research Engagement and a Professor of the Practice at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives. Currently, she also serves as the Interim Director of the Center for STEM Education.

Dr. Svarovsky’s research centers on exploring how youth and families from traditionally underrepresented populations in engineering are able to develop engineering interest, skills, knowledge, and ways of thinking as a result of engaging in authentic engineering activities within a wide range of learning contexts. Over the past decade, she has closely collaborated with community organizations, early childhood educators, and researchers as part of multiple research-practice partnerships that have shaped her approach to mutually beneficial and reciprocal research engagement with community partners. Prior to joining the faculty at the Center for STEM Education, she worked as a Senior Evaluation and Research associate at the Science Museum of Minnesota, where she led several research and evaluation studies focused on exploring informal STEM learning. 

Education

  • Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin
  • M.S. in Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin
  • M.Ed., University of Notre Dame

Courses Taught

  • ESS 20208 - Learning in Informal Environments 

Selected Publications

  • Pattison, S., Svarovsky, G.N., Ramos-Montañez, S., Burgos, V.L., Santiago, A. De Los Santos, S. (2025). Activity Design Principles to Support Engineering Engagement for Families with Preschool-Age Children from Low-Income English- and Spanish-Speaking Communities. Journal of Pre-college Engineering Education Research, 15(1).
  • Gura, A. Z., Svarovsky, G.N., Wagner, C., Boyd, H., & Brookshire, J. (2024) Overcoming obstacles to broader impacts implementation. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 17(2).
  • Pattison, S., Svarovsky, G.N., Ramos-Montañez, S., Burgos, V.L., Santiago, A., De Los Santos, S. (2023). Family-Centered Research: Reflections from a Zoom-based Recording Method of Families Learning Together at Home. Educational Researcher, 52(9). https://doi-org/10.3102/0013189X2312045
  • Pattison, S., Ramos-Montañez, S., & Svarovsky, G. (2022). Family values, parent roles, and life challenges: Parent reflections on the factors shaping long‐term interest development for young children and their families participating in an early childhood engineering program. Science Education, 106(6), 1568-1604.
  • Pattison, S., Ramos Montañez, S., Svarovsky, G., & Tominey, S. (2022). Engineering for equity: Exploring the intersection of engineering education, family learning, early childhood, and equity. https://blog.terc.edu/engineering-for-equity
  • Cardella, M., Svarovsky, G. N., & Pattison, S. (2020). Engineering Education in Pre-Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade: An Overview. Commissioned paper by the Committee on Enhancing Science and Engineering in Prekindergarten through Fifth Grade at The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/26215/Engineering-Education-in-PreK-5th-Grade.pdf
  • Pattison, S., Svarovsky, G., Ramos-Montanez, S., Gontan, I., Weiss, S., Benne, M., Nuñez, V., Corrie, P., & Smith, C. (2020). Understanding Early Childhood Engineering Interest Development as a Family-Level Systems Phenomenon: Findings from the Head Start in Engineering Project. Journal of Pre-college Engineering Education Research, 10(1), 6.