Collaborative Research: Evaluating Access: How a Multi-Institutional Network Promotes Equity and Cultural Change through Expanding Student Voice

解决自然科学中的代表性和公平性这一关键问题需要有意义的文化变革。Access Network成立于2015年，通过将各机构与学生主导的、以公平为导向的项目联系起来，分享和传播基于研究的战略，并为克服共同障碍提供支持，从而直接解决这一国家优先事项。通过指导的站点间学生队列和年度大会，ACCESS培养社区，培养学生领袖，加强机构记忆，并提供国家背景，所有这些都是可持续性和可伸缩性的重要因素。该网络的核心是一种独特的哲学，它承认并提升学生作为变革的推动者，承认他们是STEM社区的强大成员和未来物理学的领导者。外部评估员、网络内的教育研究人员和内部学生评估研究员之间的创新评估伙伴关系将记录该网络对学生领袖、地方站点和个别部门的影响。这些活动将以学生为导向、以社区为基础的方法与外部评估者的专业知识相结合，从而对模式有了更全面的了解。这项工作将通过以下方式直接支持网络中的学生：(I)不断改进网络活动，支持来自不同背景的初级科学家的专业发展和留住；(Ii)培养新的学生领袖；以及(Iii)扩大材料和最佳做法的储存库，以提高当地网站的效力。它将促进物理科学中以公平为重点的变化的知识，并为强有力的评估开发基础设施，以记录、理解和促进对成功至关重要的网络方面。外部评价者、内部评价导师和学生评价之间的新型评价伙伴关系提出了参与式评价的概念，并为程序性评价树立了模式。在地方评估中更有效地支持遗址能够使其可持续性，因为它们可以更好地了解其影响并将其传达给当地利益攸关方。来自评估活动的见解不仅有助于更全面地了解接入网络模式，为网络改进提供信息，而且还有利于其他希望在STEM实施以公平为重点的文化变革的人。有关有效项目的知识将对那些制定共享领导模式的人特别有帮助，扩大学生在转变社区中所能发挥的关键作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Addressing the critical issue of representation and equity in the physical sciences requires meaningful cultural change. The Access Network, founded in 2015, directly addresses this national priority by connecting institutions with student-led, equity-oriented programs to share and disseminate research-based strategies and provide support for overcoming common barriers. Through mentored intersite student cohorts and an annual Assembly, Access fosters community, develops student leaders, reinforces institutional memory, and provides a national context, all important factors for sustainability and scalability. At the Network’s core is a unique philosophy that recognizes and elevates students as drivers of change, recognizing them as powerful members of the STEM community and the future leaders of physics. An innovative evaluation partnership among external evaluators, educational research faculty within the network, and internal student evaluation fellows will document the network’s impacts on student leaders, local sites and individual departments. These activities combine a student-driven, community-based approach with the expertise of external evaluators, resulting in a more complete picture of the model.This work will directly support students in the Network, at individual institutions, and beyond by: (i) continuously improving Network activities that support the professional development and retention of junior scientists from diverse backgrounds, (ii) cultivating new student leaders, and (iii) growing a repository of materials and best practices that will increase the efficacy of local sites. It will advance knowledge of equity-focused change in the physical sciences and develop infrastructure for robust evaluation to document, understand, and promote Network aspects crucial to success. The novel evaluation partnership proposed among external evaluators, internal evaluation mentors, and student evaluation advance the conception of participatory evaluation and sets a model for programmatic evaluation. More effectively supporting sites in local evaluation enables their sustainability, as they can better understand and communicate their impacts to local stakeholders. Insights from evaluation activities not only result in a more complete picture of the Access Network model, informing improvements to the network, but also benefit others wishing to enact equity-focused cultural change in STEM. The knowledge about effective programs will be especially helpful for those enacting shared leadership models, expanding the critical role students can play in transforming communities.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.