Conference: A Three-Part Series to Envision & Enact an Inclusive & Diverse STEM Professoriate

Association Of Public And Land-Grant Universities, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Recent work published by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) documents evidence of the experiences and barriers facing faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students from underrepresented groups in STEM, especially in the later stages of the pathways to the professoriate. Nationally there have been only incremental changes, and effective, lasting institutional and systemic transformation practices to support the success of diversity, equity and inclusion in the academy have yet to be identified and implemented. Systemic transformation efforts require the input of multiple and varied stakeholders, ensuring that the responsibility for creating change is shared by the larger collective, especially in service of broadening participation in STEM. Such change also requires thinking in different ways about intractable problems, centering the experiences of STEM faculty from underrepresented groups, and creating new approaches to current practices. APLU will convene three half-day virtual meetings to address three systemic barriers to success for STEM faculty from underrepresented groups: (1) recruitment and hiring, (2) faculty evaluation, and (3) institutional leadership. The convenings will engage institutional leaders, educational researchers, disciplinary societies, policymakers, and philanthropic funders to envision new practice and research strategies. This virtual conference series is designed to engage a broad number of stakeholders in academia to tackle the seemingly intractable problem of a system-wide increase of STEM faculty from underrepresented groups and the use of inclusive and equity-informed practices. Developing a community of change agents and scholars who have co-developed and coalesced around a common agenda for change will help to create momentum and ensure that change is supported moving forward. Each half-day convening will be facilitated using a design-thinking approach that centers the experiences and perspectives of faculty, especially those faculty historically underrepresented in STEM. The resulting deliverables and engagement or representatives from institutions, funders, disciplines, and other organizations will serve as a launch pad for improving STEM by identifying new strategies for implementation and areas for research to build upon prior successes in effecting change. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.