Collaborative Research: Engaging Marginalized Groups to Improve Technological Equity

合作研究：让边缘群体参与提高技术公平性

• 批准号: 2224675
• 负责人: Angela D R Smith
• 金额: $ 175.02万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-15 至 2028-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2224675&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Engaging; Marginalized; Groups

This collaborative project investigates the lack of diverse, representative datasets and insights in the development and use of technology. It explore the effects of disparities on the ability of technologists (e.g., practitioners, designers, software developers) to develop technology that addresses and mitigates systemic societal racism and historically marginalized individuals' ability to feel seen and heard in the technology with which they engage. The implications of this project are threefold: 1) it supports building relationships between technologists and technology users by understanding the values that most impact historically marginalized communities' engagement and data contributions; 2) given access to more diverse data and insights, the project provides technologists with interventions that empower them to make use of these data and insights in practice; 3) lastly, the work provides support and affirmation for the technologists who are already making these explicit considerations in their work without the adequate support. More broadly, insights from this project can be applied in practice to promote racial equity and ensure systemic racism is an explicit consideration in STEM education and workforce development by incorporating more equitable practices in technologists' workflow.This study seeks to answer three main research questions: 1) What are the barriers to engaging and amplifying marginalized voices in technological spaces and data sets for both technologists and users? 2) How can marginalized groups be engage when designing and developing data-centric systems without sacrificing their safety, security, and trust? 3) What does it look like to provide interventions for engaging the margins to technologists without compromising the safe spaces for marginalized groups? Using a multi-modal approach, the project will examine how researchers and technologists can best learn to engage in data-centric research with marginalized communities in an ethically and socially responsible manner that centers the rights and values of the communities of interest. Culturally relevant approaches and grounding philosophies will drive the research methods and analyses. Through surveys, semi-structured interviews, design workshops utilizing a combination of participatory design and community-based approaches, as well as case study analysis to collect qualitative and quantitative data, the research team will develop an intervention that supports technologists in responsible engagement. Aside from real-world implementation, this project will share its findings through academic and community-facing venues, such as journal publications, conference presentations, op-eds, blogs, workshops, and social media.This collaborative project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education program (EDU 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. Programs across EDU contribute funds to the Racial Equity program 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.

这个合作项目调查了在技术开发和使用中缺乏多样化、有代表性的数据集和见解。它探讨了差异对技术专家（例如，从业者，设计师，软件开发人员）开发技术的能力的影响，这些技术解决和减轻了系统性的社会种族主义和历史上边缘化的个人在他们参与的技术中感受到被看到和听到的能力。这个项目的意义有三个方面：1)通过理解最能影响历史上边缘化社区的参与和数据贡献的价值观，它支持在技术专家和技术用户之间建立关系；2)获得更多样化的数据和见解，该项目为技术人员提供干预措施，使他们能够在实践中利用这些数据和见解；3)最后，对于那些在没有足够支持的情况下已经在工作中做出这些明确考虑的技术人员，本工作提供了支持和肯定。更广泛地说，本项目的见解可以应用于实践，以促进种族平等，并通过将更公平的做法纳入技术人员的工作流程，确保系统性种族主义在STEM教育和劳动力发展中得到明确考虑。本研究试图回答三个主要的研究问题：1)对于技术人员和用户来说，在技术空间和数据集中参与和放大边缘化声音的障碍是什么？2)边缘化群体在设计和开发以数据为中心的系统时，如何在不牺牲他们的安全、保障和信任的情况下参与进来？3)在不损害边缘群体的安全空间的情况下，如何提供干预措施，让技术专家参与到边缘群体中来？该项目将采用多模式方法，研究人员和技术人员如何以道德和社会负责的方式，以利益社区的权利和价值观为中心，最好地学习与边缘化社区进行以数据为中心的研究。文化相关的方法和基础哲学将推动研究方法和分析。通过调查、半结构化访谈、利用参与式设计和基于社区的方法相结合的设计研讨会，以及收集定性和定量数据的案例研究分析，研究团队将开发一种干预措施，支持技术人员负责任的参与。除了现实世界的实施，该项目还将通过学术和面向社区的场所分享其发现，如期刊出版物、会议演讲、专栏、博客、研讨会和社交媒体。该合作项目由STEM教育项目中的种族平等（EDU种族平等）资助。该项目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。获奖项目旨在将STEM企业中受系统性不平等影响最大的个人、社区和机构的声音、知识和经验集中起来。该项目符合美国国家科学基金会的核心价值，即支持来自全国不同人口群体、地区和组织类型的杰出研究人员和创新思想家。EDU的项目为种族平等项目提供资金，以表彰其项目与董事会四个部门的集体研究和发展重点相一致。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。