Examining Blackness in Postsecondary STEM Education through a Multidimensional-Multiplicative Lens

通过多维乘法镜头审视中学后 STEM 教育中的黑人现象

• 批准号: 2140903
• 负责人: Shari Watkins
• 金额: $ 134.66万
• 依托单位: American University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2027-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2140903&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Examining; Blackness; Postsecondary; STEM; Education

Despite well-intentioned university efforts to support Black undergraduate STEM students, policy and practice reforms run the risk of not appropriately benefiting all Black people due to pervasive, deficit-based assumptions about Black racial identities and the types of structural engagement needed to advance holistic, racial well-being in transformative and sustainable ways. Stated simply, STEM contexts do not adequately support Black undergraduate STEM students because STEM educators and practitioners remain unsure of what Blackness means for individuals, thereby constraining true racial equity endeavors. Contemporary literature regarding race posits instead that embodiment(s) of Blackness differ across multiple dimensions and axes, including ethnic identity (e.g., African American, Caribbean American, Nigerian American), place identity (e.g., South, Midwest), and generational identity (e.g., first-generation, second-generation, third plus generation). Black students from different ethnic and generational identities having varied perceptions of the racial climate and understandings of their STEM experiences. Recognizing the scope of Blackness and its implications for creating and sustaining holistic, heterogenous conceptions of racial equity in STEM, the team will establish a collaborative network among six institutions (two HBCUS, two PWIs, one majority Black institution, and one HSI) located across the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest regions of the US to study how Black undergraduate STEM students’ notions of Blackness vary with respect to these dimensions. The research team will conduct an exploratory sequential mixed methods project, integrating mosaic ethnography, survey design and administration of the survey to Black undergraduate STEM students across five states. Through these methods, the students’ conceptions of Blackness will be explored as it relates to their STEM engagement and perspectives of racial equity in STEM. In efforts to foster racial equity in STEM for all Black people, this project will produce tools of analysis (i.e., theories, research methods, qualitative and quantitative measures) and translational products (i.e., professional developments, aminations, infographics) that will change how institutional and organizational policies, practices, and future research treat Black people in STEM, thereby promoting tailored resources and supports to meet Black people’s nuanced needs. The desired outcomes from this work will inform the development and implementation of racial equity focused policies and practices in STEM education, facilitating increased access and sustained engagement in STEM for Black undergraduate students.This collaborative project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education program (EHR Racial Equity). The program supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise. This program aligns with NSF’s core value of supporting outstanding researchers and innovative thinkers from across the Nation's diversity of demographic groups, regions, and types of organizations. Funds for EHR Racial Equity are pooled from programs across EHR in recognition of the alignment of its projects with the collective research and development thrusts of the four divisions of the directorate.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.

尽管善意的大学努力支持黑人本科STEM学生，政策和实践改革运行的风险，不适当地受益于所有黑人由于普遍的，基于赤字的假设黑人种族身份和类型的结构性参与需要推进整体，种族福祉在变革和可持续的方式。简单地说，STEM背景不足以支持黑人本科STEM学生，因为STEM教育工作者和从业者仍然不确定黑人对个人意味着什么，从而限制了真正的种族平等努力。关于种族的当代文献认为，黑人的具体表现在多个维度和轴上不同，包括种族认同（例如，非裔美国人、加勒比裔美国人、尼日利亚裔美国人）、地方认同（例如，南部、中西部）和世代认同（例如，第一代、第二代、第三代以上）。来自不同种族和世代身份的黑人学生对种族气候和他们的STEM经历的理解各不相同。认识到黑人的范围及其对创造和维持STEM中种族平等的整体，异质概念的影响，该团队将在六个机构之间建立一个合作网络。（两个HBCUS，两个PWI，一个黑人多数机构和一个HSI）位于大西洋中部，东南，西南，和美国中西部地区，研究黑人本科STEM学生的黑人概念如何在这些方面有所不同。该研究小组将进行一个探索性的顺序混合方法项目，将马赛克民族志，调查设计和调查管理整合到五个州的黑人本科STEM学生中。通过这些方法，学生的黑人概念将被探讨，因为它涉及到他们的干参与和干种族平等的观点。为了促进所有黑人在STEM中的种族平等，该项目将制作分析工具（即，理论，研究方法，定性和定量测量）和转化产品（即，专业发展，aminations，信息图表），这将改变如何机构和组织的政策，实践和未来的研究对待黑人在干，从而促进量身定制的资源和支持，以满足黑人的细微差别的需求。这项工作的预期成果将为STEM教育中以种族平等为重点的政策和实践的制定和实施提供信息，促进黑人本科生在STEM中获得更多的机会和持续参与。这项合作项目通过STEM教育中的种族平等计划（EHR种族平等）资助。该计划支持研究和实践项目，调查种族平等因素如何影响科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）教育和劳动力的改善。获奖项目旨在集中STEM企业内受系统性不平等影响最大的个人，社区和机构的声音，知识和经验。该计划符合NSF的核心价值观，即支持来自全国人口群体，地区和组织类型多样性的优秀研究人员和创新思想家。EHR种族平等基金来自EHR各项目，以表彰其项目与董事会四个部门的集体研究和开发目标的一致性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。