We study issues of equity and justice in college science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning environments.
Why attend to equity and justice?
STEM education research has converged on evidence that students from minoritized backgrounds (e.g., People of Color, women, low-income, first generation to college students, etc.) continue to be excluded from equitable opportunities to learn STEM and succeed in STEM, despite their interest, motivation, and prior achievement (NASEM, 2016; NASEM 2023; McGee, 2020; Riegle-Crumb et al., 2012; Riegle-Crumb et al., 2019; Wilson et al., 2015). Specifically, researchers have shed light on how STEM culture and climate can be exclusionary and dehumanizing for minoritized students including exposure to bias, deficit thinking, microaggressions, and the devaluing of different ways of knowing and being in STEM and other spaces in the university (Hurtado et al., 2011; Johnson, 2007; NASEM, 2016; McGee, 2020; Ong et al., 2011; Lee, 2020; Yosso et al., 2009).
Other research illuminates how students from these backgrounds are able rely on their assets and strengths to resist and persist in these spaces, despite the exclusionary climate (McGee, 2020; Stanton et al., 2022; Yosso, 2005). However, it is unjust that some students have to contend with such barriers while others do not, especially considering how challenging STEM fields already are.
The ACCESS Lab engages in research that aims to better understand structural barriers by exploring the experiences and perspectives of STEM students from minoritized backgrounds, and to highlight their strengths and assets navigating STEM learning environments not designed with them in mind. We also examine how to best support future and current STEM instructors in learning about injustices in STEM so that they are empowered to design justice-centered, equitable learning environments where all students can bring their full authentic selves to STEM and achieve their goals.
Our Current Lines of Inquiry
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Hegemonic Ideologies and STEM Culture
We explore how hegemonic ideologies and the taken for granted norms and values in STEM can inform the beliefs and practices of students, instructors, and institutions. These beliefs and practices manifest in the internalized, interpersonal, and institutional levels of the system in ways that perpetuate inequities and injustices. Currently, projects include a book chapter problematizing meritocratic and colorblind ideologies in STEM, and a Critical Discourse Analysis of NSF documents and STEM faculty DEI statements.
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The Experiences and Perspectives of Students from Minoritized Backgrounds
We believe it is essential to center the voices and experiences of biology and other STEM students from minoritized backgrounds (e.g., People of Color, women, first generation to college, low income students, etc.). Currently, we are exploring whether and how peer interactions can affirm or discourage students from minoritized backgrounds in active learning classrooms.
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Critical Consciousness Development
We are particularly interested in learning how to best support students and instructors in developing a critical consciousness–– an understanding of systemic injustices, agency to act, and individual and collective actions taken to change that reality. By developing this critical reflection, instructors may begin to see themselves as agents of change and feel empowered to engage in humanizing and justice-centered approaches in their teaching and various spheres of influence. Students who develop a CC can also become change agents in their future STEM careers. We are currently co-developing and testing various interventions at the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty levels to support critical consciousness raising in all stakeholders in STEM learning environments.