Advancing Leaders in Inclusive Astronomy and STEM

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

Since 2001, the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE), headquartered at the University of California Santa Cruz, has conducted a series of Professional Development Program (PDP) workshops. These prepare Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) professionals, primarily graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, to become better educators and mentors and to learn inclusive practices that will help increase the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM. This award will continue these activities and will support preliminary studies into how best to expand their impact and how to provide support for their alumni as they implement the strategies learned in the workshops. Four to five hundred new undergraduates per year indirectly benefit from the 39 new PDP alumni each year. The current community of ISEE alumni includes over 650 professionals, most of whom continue to stay in active contact with each other and many of whom seek further training opportunities. Observatory and industry professionals also participate in these programs, which help provide a more highly-trained and diverse workforce, particularly in Hawaii. The goals of this project are to expand ISEE's impact by: 1) advancing scientists, engineers, and technologists prepared for inclusive teaching and mentoring; 2) advancing ISEE alumni as leaders in equity and inclusion; and 3) developing capacity and structure to enable a national leadership network. These will be achieved by continuing the PDP workshops and the mentoring programs already in place. They will also develop mechanisms to assist the alumni of these programs as they become leaders in STEM education.