The ARC Network: Engineering an Intersectional, Intentional and Inclusive STEM Equity Resource Curation Agenda

Description

Context-based, STEM equity research is complex. Since its inception in 2001, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) ADVANCE program has awarded over 300 grants to 200 institutions aiming to create systemic change and increase the representation and advancement of the diversity of women among STEM faculty. Throughout its duration, grantees have undertaken many efforts to influence change, including conducting research, assessment, and evaluation activities; catalyzing policy changes; providing professional development opportunities to underrepresented groups in STEM; engaging departments and universities in equity and diversity training and initiatives; instituting mentoring programs; crafting toolkits, protocols, interview and survey instruments and guidebooks; and more. However, while previously funded grants contain sustainability plans, many sustainability challenges remain, resulting in the loss of this intellectual and practical knowledge and, in some cases, progress.

Building on these efforts, the NSF-funded ADVANCE Resource and Coordination (ARC) Network connects widely dispersed scholars and practitioners committed to STEM equity in an engaged stakeholder community. Three areas from the research on systemic change form the major basis of the ARC Network: intersectionality; organizational and disciplinary contexts; and structural and cultural barriers. The Network strives to advance equity nationally by facilitating the adoption and implementation of evidence-based systemic initiatives by institutions of higher education and other STEM organizations. As both the research and the subsequent interventions become complex, the challenge of access to applicable research and resources on successful and sustainable change initiatives becomes urgent.

This workshop, geared toward intermediate participants, will facilitate meaningful engagement, idea exploration, and reflection through selected questions, brainstorming activities, and roundtable discussions on innovative solutions to challenges associated with curating, managing, and sharing STEM equity research and resources. The session will be framed from an intersectionality perspective that incorporates discussion on the challenges and opportunities inherent in curating STEM equity and inclusion work that addresses interlocking forms of power, privilege, and oppression.

Ultimately, this session will produce a blueprint for developing a curation agenda through the collaborative efforts of researchers, practitioners, administrators, librarians, and others with a vested interest in jump-starting innovative curation practices in equity research.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify gaps and overlap in existing STEM equity resources
2. Position resources across disciplinary context accessibly and applicably
3. Apply an intersectional lens to the design of a STEM equity resource agenda