Please Join Me/Us/Them on My/Our/Their Journey to Justice in STEM

Abstract

Despite decades of effort to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), many fields remain demographically skewed. Marginalized and minoritized people are still underrepresented in and underserved by the sciences. In this paper, the author considers the question, 'How do we improve representation in STEM?' by reflecting on his own journey and themes such as imposter syndrome, decentering, meritocracy, and activism. Importantly, 'underrepresentation' is not a mysterious happenstance but rather a predictable outcome of systemic inequity and systematic exclusion. By attending to the mechanisms of oppression, we can enact interventions that address root causes instead of symptoms. There are multiple ways that our research, teaching, and practice might change 'the system' by making inclusion and equity the focus of our work, applying these principles as a lens for framing research questions and interpreting findings, and adopting methods and practices that are inclusive and equitable.

Learning and Growth in an Inclusive Engineering and Design Course

“…The second author was a student enrolled in the course, and identifies as a queer, neurodivergent, disabled person. Both authors are engaged in scholarship and activism regarding DEIB in STEM fields, and have published on these topics (Jennings et al, 2020; Roscoe, 2022).…”

“…Analyses have observed that engineering training can foster a sense of dissociation between engineering and societal issues—beliefs that engineering is “apolitical,” or that technical and social concerns are separate (Cech, 2014). Similarly, scholars have critiqued how engineering cultures promote “meritocratic” ideas that reward skill and effort without acknowledging the intersectional factors that enable these resources to matter (Roscoe, 2022; Cech, 2014; Farrell et al, 2021; Slaton, 2015). Taken together, such mindsets make it difficult to inspect and challenge systemic discrimination in STEM by casting serious concerns as exaggerated or irrelevant distractions.…”

Looking at Participant Engagement for Product Design Through a Critical Lens

“…He has contributed to equitycentered projects and scholarship across multiple organizations, including the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (Roscoe et. al., 2019), the Society for Artificial Intelligence in Education (Roscoe et al, 2022), and Society for Text and Discourse (Roscoe, 2022). He is currently funded by the Gates Foundation to study inclusive language analytics and to develop equity-centered chemistry courseware.…”

Learning Engineering Perspectives for Supporting Educational Systems

“…For example, scholars have called for greater attention to equity, justice, and sociopolitical issues in learning sciences (Guttiérrez & Jurow, 2016; Sungupta-Irving & McKinney de Royston, 2020), data science (Green, 2021; Lewis & Stoyanovich, 2021), artificial intelligence in education (Lewis & Stoyanovich, 2021; Roscoe et al, 2022), and human factors and ergonomics (Roscoe et al, 2019), just to name a few. Such calls have been driven by rising awareness that inattention to DEIB results in potentially harmful outcomes, such as algorithmic bias in educational systems (Baker & Hawn, 2021) and excluding people from (or pushing them out) of relevant fields altogether (Roscoe, 2022).…”