A Synthesis of Approaches to Equity, Belonging, and Broadening Participation in Museums and Makerspaces

尽管长期以来一直在考虑和尝试解决多样性、公平、可及性和包容性问题，但博物馆、植物园和动物园等游客服务组织往往不成比例地为白人、健全的高收入观众服务。传统上，解决这一挑战的努力集中在减少障碍（成本、运输等），以便让更多的人参与非正式的科学学习经验。近年来，该领域开始呼吁采取以公平为导向和反压迫的方法，不仅要质疑谁参与，还要质疑如何重新设计非正式的科学学习，以满足那些在STEM领域被边缘化的人的需求和兴趣。虽然这种转变是有希望的，但学习往往是孤立的，以身份为中心的竖井。例如，解决种族不平等问题的人往往不参与有关使残疾人更容易获得非正式科学的研究。在这个项目中，匹兹堡儿童博物馆与EdTogether、斯佩尔曼学院和罗切斯特大学华纳教育学院合作，将通过与青少年和从业者合作，将这些不同的学习领域结合起来，对非正式科学学习中的公平和归属工作进行系统审查。审查将产生关于项目团队如何在工作中讨论和实施公平和归属感的见解，该项目将产生资源，以支持未来的项目超越对身份的简单定义，从而全面满足学习者的需求。本项目将采用六步综合流程，对博物馆、创客空间、植物园、动物园和其他游客服务机构中以公平性和归属感为重点的非正式科学工作的约7000个经验来源进行审查。研究问题将调查该领域内关于公平和归属的隐性和显性哲学；该领域制定反压迫做法的程度；项目融合多种反压迫做法的方式；以及公平和以归属感为中心的工作如何随着时间和环境的变化而变化。该项目将由成熟的专业研究人员和共同研究奖学金计划的参与者合作，通过该计划，青年和成人从业人员将了解并参与研究的各个阶段。共同研究员还将共同参与该项目的努力，发起变革，深化非正式科学整合反压迫镜头的方式。这包括一个研讨会，非正式的科学专业人员将通过该研讨会考虑他们如何将项目学习融入正在进行的变革结构；期刊文章；会议会话;以及一本面向从业者的迷你书，将分享在非正式科学领域开展综合反压迫工作的见解和工具。该项目的评估将为合作研究如何挑战谁能做研究的概念提供指导；扩大参观者和实践者对现有非正式科学学习研究的接触；通过参与研究和决策，扩大共同研究人员的STEM和倡导技能；并通过与从业者和访客的需求保持一致，增强研究过程和发现的相关性和有效性。该综合项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划支持以下项目：(a)促进研究和实践，考虑非正式STEM学习在STEM公平和归属方面的作用；(b)促进个人和教育在STEM方面的成功；(c)促进公众参与科学发现；(d)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(e)为有效的非正式STEM学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(f)改善社区活力；及/或(g)加强科学传播和公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和理解。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。

Despite a long history of considering and attempting to address issues of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion, visitor-serving organizations such as museums, botanical gardens, and zoos tend to serve disproportionately white, able-bodied, and high-income audiences. Traditionally, efforts to address this challenge have focused on reducing barriers (cost, transportation, etc.) in order to get more people to participate in informal science learning experiences. In recent years, the field has begun to call for equity-oriented and anti-oppressive approaches that question not only who participates but how informal science learning can be re-designed to center the needs and interests of people whose experiences are marginalized in STEM fields. While this shift is promising, the learning tends to be isolated in identity-focused silos. For example, people addressing racial inequities are not often engaged with research about making informal science more accessible for people with disabilities. In this project, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh in partnership with EdTogether, Spelman College, and the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester will bring together these distinct domains of learning by working with youth and practitioners to conduct a systematic review of equity and belonging work in informal science learning. The review will generate insights about how project teams talk about and enact equity and belonging in their work and the project will produce resources that will support future projects to move beyond simplistic definitions of identity in order to holistically embrace learners' needs.This project will use a six-step synthesis process to review approximately 7,000 empirical sources about equity and belonging-focused informal science efforts in museums, makerspaces, botanical gardens, zoos, and other visitor-serving institutions. The research questions will investigate the implicit and explicit philosophies of equity and belonging in the field; the extent to which the field enacts anti-oppressive practices; the ways in which projects blend multiple anti-oppressive practices; and how equity and belonging-focused work has varied over time and context. This project will be a collaboration among established, professional researchers and participants in a Co-Research Fellowship program through which youth and adult practitioners will inform and engage in all stages of the research. Co-Research Fellows will also be co-producers of the project's efforts to initiate change to deepen the ways informal science integrates anti-oppressive lenses. This includes a charrette through which informal science professionals will consider the ways they can integrate the project learnings into ongoing structures for change; a journal article; conference sessions; and a practitioner-oriented mini-book that will share insights and tools for conducting integrative anti-oppressive work in the informal science field. The project's evaluation will offer guidance about how co-research can challenge notions of who can do research; extend visitors' and practitioners' exposure to existing informal science learning research; expand co-researchers' STEM and advocacy skills through participation in and decision-making about research; and enhance the relevance and validity of the research process and findings through alignment with practitioner and visitor needs.This Synthesis project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes.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.