Abstract
The dearth of historically underrepresented minorities (URMs) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty positions is one of the most significant challenges in higher education in the U.S. Increasing underrepresented groups’ success in academia through achieving and retention in tenure-track faculty roles has been the central goal of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. In the present study, we draw on organizational change theories in higher education reform and interpret the landscape of AGEP project alliances through mapping their theories of change, barriers to success, levels of change, and foci of change, based on semistructured interviews with 17 AGEP alliances’ core teams. Our mapping reveals local structures as well as interesting patterns across AGEP alliances that inform national trends. We identify alignment and misalignment between our analysis frameworks and AGEP projects which amplifies contemporary questions of providing direct student support within a deficit mindset context as well as sustainability and scalability for both the AGEP community and the broader community of diversifying STEM.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 371-384 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Diversity in Higher Education |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 9 2022 |
Funding
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant 1841978. The authors thank the following alliances for graduate education and the professoriate (AGEP) awardees for participating in this research and providing information: (a) The AGEP California Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Alliance to Increase Underrepresented Minority Faculty in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). (b) The Pacific Northwest Alliance to Develop, Implement, and Study a STEM Graduate Education Model for American Indians and Native Alaskans. (c) AGEP North Carolina Alliance: An Institutional Transformation Model to Increase Minority STEM Doctoral Student and Faculty Success. (d) The AGEP California State University Underrepresented Minority STEM Faculty Alliance Model: A Culturally Informed StrengthBased Approach to Advance Early-Career Faculty Success. (e) The Willow AGEP Alliance: A Model to Advance Native American STEM Faculty. (f) Northern Ohio AGEP-Transformation (AGEP-T): A Racially and Ethnically Inclusive Graduate Education Model in Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering. (g) The Texas A&M System AGEP Alliance: A Model to Advance Historically Underrepresented Minorities in the STEM Professoriate. (h) AGEP-knowledge adoption and translation (AGEP-KAT): Adopting Evidence-Based Strategies to Improve Academic Climate and the Success of Underrepresented Doctoral Students in Engineering. (i) The Hispanic AGEP Alliance for the Environmental Science and Engineering Professoriate in Community Colleges and Associate Degree Programs. (j) The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Professorial Advancement Initiative. (k) AGEP Transformation Alliance: Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) AGEP\u2014Improved Academic Climate for STEM Dissertators and Postdocs to Increase Interest in Faculty Careers. (l) California AGEP Model to Increase the Success of Underrepresented Minority Postdoctoral Fellows Becoming Faculty in Mathematics, Engineering and Physical and Computer Sciences. (m) AGEP Transformation Alliance: Bridging the PhD to Postdoc to Faculty Transitions for Women of Color in STEM. (n) The AGEP Engineering Alliance: A Model to Advance Historically Underrepresented Minority Postdoctoral Scholars and Early Career Faculty in Engineering. (o) The AGEP Alliance State System Model to Transform the Hiring Practices and Career Success of Tenure Track Historically Underrepresented Minority Faculty in Biomedical Sciences. (p) The Michigan AGEP Alliance for Transformation (MAA): Mentoring and Community Building to Accelerate Successful Progression into the Professoriate. (q) An AGEP Alliance Model to Advance Underrepresented Minority STEM Faculty at Predominately Undergraduate Institutions.
Keywords
- NSF AGEP
- STEM education
- diversity and inclusion
- higher education
- organizational change
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education