The racial politics of STEM education in the USA: interrogations and explorations

Vakil, Sepehr; Ayers, Rick

doi:10.1080/13613324.2019.1592831

Cited by 91 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Additionally, many science instructors hold the assumption that STEM fields are somehow “unbiased” and immune to societal injustices (Saini, 2020; Smith & Scharmann, 1999; Wheeler et al., 2019), making inclusive teaching challenging. Lastly, traditional STEM curricula tend to promote racist, sexist, and Eurocentric ideas (Black Lives Matter in Ecology & Evolution, 2020; Hayssen, 2020; Hayssen & Orr, 2017; Peters, 2015; Smedley & Smedley, 2005; Vakil & Ayers, 2019). Disparities start early, as a recent study found introductory biology textbooks were more likely to highlight men scientists, and none of the books analyzed highlighted a Black woman scientist (Wood et al., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From panic to pedagogy: Using online active learning to promote inclusive instruction in ecology and evolutionary biology courses and beyond

Harris

McCarthy

Wright

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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In response to COVID-19, in spring, 2020 many of us rapidly took our in-person courses to an online format. This was panic pedagogy and we made the best of an emergency situation. Going forward, we now have a chance to reflect and think critically about how to best develop and deliver evolutionary and ecological content online. In this piece we challenge instructors to use the opportunity created by the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink the way in which they teach. Let us leverage the situation to increase use of active and inclusive practices in our (online) classrooms. We encourage instructors to be

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From panic to pedagogy: Using online active learning to promote inclusive instruction in ecology and evolutionary biology courses and beyond

Harris

McCarthy

Wright

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Additionally, many science instructors hold the assumption that STEM fields are somehow "unbiased" and immune to societal injustices Scharmann, 1999, Wheeler et al, 2019), making inclusive teaching challenging. Lastly, traditional STEM curricula tend to promote racist, sexist, and Eurocentric ideas (Smedley and Smedley, 2005;Peters, 2015;Hayssen and Orr, 2017;Vakil and Ayers, 2019;Black Lives Matter in Ecology and Evolution, 2020;Hayssen, 2020). Disparities start early, as a recent study found introductory biology textbooks were more likely to highlight men scientists, and none of the books analyzed highlighted a Black woman scientist (Wood et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From panic to pedagogy: Using online active learning to promote inclusive instruction in ecology and evolutionary biology courses.

Harris

McCarthy

Wright

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The rapid shift to online teaching in spring 2020 meant most of us were teaching in panic mode. As we move forward with course planning for fall and beyond, we can invest more time and energy into improving the online experience for our students. We advocate that instructors use inclusive teaching practices, specifically through active learning, in their online classes. Incorporating pedagogical practices that work to maximize active and inclusive teaching concepts will be beneficial for all students, and especially those from minoritized or underserved groups. Like many STEM fields, Ecology and Evolution shows achievement gaps and faces a leaky pipeline issue for students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science. Making online classes both active and inclusive will aid student learning and will also help students feel more connected to their learning, their peers, and their campus. This approach will likely help with performance, retention, and persistence of students. In this paper we offer strategies and techniques that weave together active and inclusive teaching practices and challenge faculty to commit to making small changes in the fall as a first step to more inclusive teaching in ecology and evolutionary biology courses.

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“…Recent studies in pedagogy and scientific communication challenge such "deficit" (sensu [60]) approaches by examining disciplinary and institutional practices that contribute to lower recruitment and retention of underrepresented students [61,62]. Research training is an important component of STEM education, but there is increasing recognition [5,8,63,64] that awareness of social identities (i.e., cultural competency or humility), can support institutional and disciplinary efforts to diversify STEM participation at all educational levels.…”

Section: Cultural Humility and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cultural barriers in STEM participation may be challenging to address because of the value of objectivity in these disciplines and research emphases on empirical, objective, and largely non-cultural topics. However, Vakil and Ayers [8] caution that STEM is not independent of socio-political biases-scientific values and knowledge production have frequently omitted the contributions and experiences of those outside the dominant culture. Consequently, cultural and social barriers are exacerbated with low diversity in certain academic disciplines or institutions [7,9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature in the Eye of the Beholder: A Case Study for Cultural Humility as a Strategy to Broaden Participation in STEM

Miriti

2019

Education Sciences

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Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines suffer from chronically low participation of women and underrepresented minorities. Diversity enhancement initiatives frequently attempt to mitigate skill deficits such as math skills in an attempt to improve preparedness of these students. However, such interventions do not address cultural or social barriers that contribute to the isolation and marginalization that discourage continued participation in STEM. Science exists and is developed within social constructs.; because of this, cultural conflicts can occur pertaining to contrasting cultural belief systems between educators and students, or to socially-biased perspectives that are embedded in disciplinary values. These conflicts are implicated in the low recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in STEM. To address the relationship between culture and STEM diversity, I present a case study that examines the role of culturally-biased views of nature on the lack of diverse participation in ecology and environmental biology. I conclude by advocating the use of inclusive, culturally-sensitive teaching practices that can improve the climate for underrepresented students and increase diverse recruitment and retention in STEM.

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The racial politics of STEM education in the USA: interrogations and explorations

Cited by 91 publications

References 23 publications

From panic to pedagogy: Using online active learning to promote inclusive instruction in ecology and evolutionary biology courses and beyond

From panic to pedagogy: Using online active learning to promote inclusive instruction in ecology and evolutionary biology courses and beyond

From panic to pedagogy: Using online active learning to promote inclusive instruction in ecology and evolutionary biology courses.

Nature in the Eye of the Beholder: A Case Study for Cultural Humility as a Strategy to Broaden Participation in STEM

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