Envisioning and Enacting an Inclusive & Diverse STEM Professoriate

About the Conference Series

Funded by NSF, Envisioning & Enacting an Inclusive & Diverse STEM Professoriate (#2041007) was a series of collaborative think tanks for APLU leaders, STEM faculty, social science and diversity scholars, funders and other non-profits. Each think tank tackled a systemic gatekeeping function in the careers of STEM faculty that may be preventing institutions and the nation from realizing their goal of a more diverse and inclusive STEM faculty.

Partnering with Intentional Futures, the think tanks were developed using a design thinking approach to help participants identify innovative approaches towards faculty recruitment and hiring, the evaluation of faculty, and leadership that centers equity. View Intentional Futures' summary of design thinking.

The goals of the convenings were built upon the recommendations of APLU’s Strengthening the Pathways to Faculty Careers in STEM: Recommendations for Systemic Change to Support Underrepresented Groups.

Part 1 - Aligning the Recruitment & Hiring of Diverse STEM Faculty (March 4, 2021)

This convening engaged leaders in an ecosystems approach to conceptualize and operationalize definitions of inclusive excellence in the recruitment and hiring of URG STEM faculty, and identify lines of future research. Reflecting on three candidate profiles, participants envisioned journey maps through the hiring process that centered empathy for the candidates. Based on those idealized journeys, they then brainstormed possible policy and practice interventions that would create those ideal conditions.

Session 1 summary records.

Part 2 – Equitable STEM Faculty Evaluation & Reviews of Research (June 3, 2021)

This convening engaged leaders in considering how Victor Ray's (2018) theory of racialized organizations might shed light onto the evaluation experience of faculty of color. Participants heard a brief talk from Damani White-Lewis on organizational theory and a presentation from Victor Ray on this theory. In groups focused on research, teaching, and service, participants provided feedback on a proposed evaluation terrain that accounted for the faculty activities, methods of evaluation, and metrics of evaluation for each major faculty job responsibility. Participants then considered whether and how key tenets of the theory of racialized organizations may expose inequities in evaluation for minoritized faculty.

Session 2 summary records.

Part 3 - Inclusive Leadership to Support Diverse & Inclusive STEM Faculty (September 16, 2021)

This convening asked participants to consider how they show up as a leader in the various sites external to institutions of higher education within the broader STEM faculty ecosystem. They reflected on how certain core cultural assumptions and norms may be hindering equity within the disciplinary societies, academic publishing, extramural funders, and other influencers (legislatures, non-profits, accreditors, ranking systems, analytic companies, think tanks, and the general public), and to identify how they might engage in collaborative and collective action to make change.

Session 3 summary records.

Download the Framing the Dialogue report

The EEIDSP Framing the Dialogue for Systemic Equity Reform in STEM Faculty Careers report advances three big ideas we believe are essential for a national dialogue on systemic reform for equity in STEM faculty careers: 1) Tracing, Addressing, and Dismantling Systemic Inequities in STEM Faculty Careers; 2) Tracking in STEM Faculty Careers; and, 3) Broadening the Bar: Redefining What Counts in Hiring and Evaluation.

Click this link to complete a brief form and access the report.

Host Your Own Conversations with the EEIDSP Dialogue Toolkit

The series planning committee has made available the base facilitation guides and digital collaboration tools (hosted by MURAL) that formed the foundation of the EEIDSP conference series. Institutions, departments, and other organizations can use these materials to begin robust conversations to advance equity in the STEM professoriate.

Click this link to complete a brief form and gain access to:

EEIDSP Dialogue Toolkit Facilitation Guide
Mural Template for Session 1: Aligning the Recruitment & Hiring of Diverse STEM Faculty
Mural Template for Session 2: Equitable STEM Faculty Evaluation & Reviews of Research
Mural Template for Session 3: Inclusive Leadership to Support Diverse & Inclusive STEM Faculty

Series Planning Committee

Jessica Bennett, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President of STEM Education, APLU, Planning Committee Chair & PI
(former) Justine Joo, Senior Associate, STEM Education, APLU
Kacy Redd, Ph.D., Associate Vice President of STEM Education, APLU
Damani White-Lewis, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Maryland-College Park
(former) Travis T. York, PhD Associate Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, APLU

Series Steering Committee

Edwin Barea-Rodriguez, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Student Success and Instructional Innovation and Professor of Biology, UT San Antonio
Kadian Callahan, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Faculty and Student Success, Kennesaw State University
Antonio Farias, M.A., Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, University of Colorado, Denver
Tera Jordan, Ph.D., Assistant Provost for Faculty Development, Iowa State University
Jeremi London, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Engineering Education, Virginia Tech
Tykeia Robinson, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Research and Policy, AACU
Christine Stanley, Ph.D., Professor of Higher Education, Texas A&M University

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