Building Capacity to Institutionalize Equity in Outdoor and Environmental Science Education

本项目旨在通过共同开发、实施和研究一种可复制的组织能力建设和转型模式，促进户外和环境科学教育（OESE）中的种族平等。该项目将提高各组织的能力，为OESE的有色人种专业人士建立更加种族公正和公平的工作环境。它是一家大型公立大学（加州大学伯克利分校劳伦斯科学馆）的研究和学习设计团队、一家以社区为基础的种族和环境正义组织（justice Outside）以及一家数据和战略咨询公司（informed Change）的合作项目。该项目将支持一个由五个组织的领导人组成的小组，以促进和指导与种族平等有关的全组织讨论。通过这项工作，该项目将制定并正式制定一套种族平等转型工具包，以启动全领域的变革。该工具包将包括三个部分：1)主持人反思指南，2)种族平等基础指南，以及3)组织系统变革工具。该项目包括协作和相互关联的研究和评估组成部分，为项目活动提供信息，评估能力建设模型的有效性，并研究种族和权力如何影响有色人种专业人士的日常经历，以及推动系统变革的组织之旅。借鉴系统变化的种族化条件框架，研究结果将建立在理论和实践理解的基础上，即种族化条件如何塑造组织转型的制定，以实现更种族公正和公平的工作环境，即有色人种专业人员。)该项目将使用定性的案例研究方法探讨三个研究问题：（RQ1）在OESE组织中，为有色人种专业人士创造一个种族平等和公正的工作环境需要什么条件？变革会是什么样子？（RQ2）对于有色人种专业人员来说，在OESE组织中种族公正和平等的工作环境有哪些有意义的指标？（RQ3）有色人种专业人士如何从他们在整个领域的经历中获得意义，哪些因素塑造了有色人种专业人士的经历？评估将利用混合方法设计来探索关键的设计和实现特征，这些特征可以使用关键杠杆或解决障碍，使参与者真正参与组织转型。总的来说，研究和评估将导致对如何概念化，制定和评估OESE组织系统变化的新理解，这可以为更广泛的STEM教育提供关键见解。通过衔接研究和评估，该项目将提供关于系统变化的种族化条件框架的见解，探索社会、制度、文化和个人因素与组织条件之间的相互作用，以确定系统变化的关键指标。该项目由STEM教育中的种族平等活动（EDU种族平等）资助。该活动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。这项活动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的项目为种族平等活动提供资金，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。

This project aims to advance racial equity in outdoor and environmental science education (OESE) by co-developing, implementing, and studying a replicable model for organizational capacity building and transformation. This project will increase the capacity of organizations to build more racially just and equitable work environments for Professionals of Color in OESE. It is a collaboration among a research and learning design team at a large public university (the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley), a community-based racial and environmental justice organization (Justice Outside), and a data and strategic consultancy firm (Informing Change). The project will support a team of leaders from five organizations to facilitate and guide organization-wide discussions related to racial equity. Through this work, the project will develop and formalize a Racial Equity Transformation Tool Kit to activate field-wide change. The Tool Kit will include three components: 1) Facilitator's Reflection Guide, 2) Foundations of Racial Equity Guide, and 3) Organization Systems Change Tools. The project includes collaborative and interconnected research and evaluation components to inform project activities, assess the effectiveness of the capacity-building model, and examine how race and power shape the everyday experiences of Professionals of Color and the organizational journey to advance systems change.Drawing on a racialized conditions of systems change framework, research findings will build on theoretical and practical understandings of how racialized conditions shape the enactment of organizational transformation towards a more racially just and equitable work environment, namely for Professionals of Color.). The project will explore three research questions using a qualitative, case study approach: (RQ1) What are the conditions necessary in OESE organizations to move towards a racially equitable and just work environment for Professionals of Color, and what can transformative change look like?; (RQ2) What are meaningful indicators for Professionals of Color of a racially just and equitable work environment in OESE organizations?; and (RQ3) How do Professionals of Color make meaning of their experiences in the field-at-large, and what factors shape the experiences of Professionals of Color? The evaluation will utilize a mixed-methods design to explore the key design and implementation features that can employ critical levers or address barriers to position participants to authentically engage in organizational transformation. Collectively, the research and evaluation will lead to new understandings of how to conceptualize, enact, and assess systems change in OESE organizations, which can offer critical insights to STEM education more broadly. By bridging research and evaluation, the project will provide insight with respect to Racialized Conditions of Systems Change framework, exploring the interplay between the social, institutional, cultural, and individual factors and organizational conditions to identify key indicators of systems change.This project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education activity (EDU Racial Equity). The activity 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 activity 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 activity 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.