Illinois State University is part of a nationwide group of institutions working to make STEM education more inclusive and equitable. The work is being supported by a large grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence program.
Illinois State, along with 14 other institutions, is part of an HHMI-facilitated learning community to build institutional capacity for students belonging in the sciences, particularly among those who have been historically excluded from these disciplines. That learning community has been awarded over $8 million to identify and pilot methods to foster institutional change toward more inclusive and equitable introductory STEM education. Illinois State’s portion of the grant is $780,000, about one-third of which the learning community has collectively decided to use to fund program evaluation. As an integral member of the community, Illinois State holds responsibility to lead this aspect of the learning community’s important work.
Appears InThrough the remaining grant funding, researchers at Illinois State are piloting the STEM Ambassadors program and the Inclusive Excellence STEM Fellows program.
Students in the STEM Ambassadors program will be hired in the fall of 2023, when they enter Illinois State as first-year science majors. Their first two years as an ambassador will include structured reflection that documents elements of their experience that impact their sense of belonging at Illinois State as well as in their science major. During the following two years, STEM Ambassadors will propose and implement projects to improve equity and inclusion during the introductory science experience.
Through the Inclusive Excellence STEM Fellows program, STEM faculty members will examine the curriculum and delivery of introductory STEM courses through a diversity, equity, and antiracist lens, with the goal of increasing students’ sense of belonging in their courses, departments/schools, and their chosen STEM discipline. STEM Fellows may work directly with STEM Ambassadors to better understand the introductory STEM experience at Illinois State and collaborate to foster a greater sense of belonging during this critical time in the science curriculum.
The HHMI Inclusive Excellence team at Illinois State includes Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology co-directors Dr. Rebekka Darner and Dr. Ben Sadd; Dr. Sarah Boesdorfer, who will be a mentor of faculty members named STEM fellows; and Matthew Hagaman, who will mentor students who are hired as a STEM Ambassadors.
Other schools in the HHMI learning community are California State University – Stanislaus, Dalton State College, Fordham University, Franklin and Marshall College, Furman University, Gannon University, Haverford College, Middlebury College, Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville, SUNY Empire State College, Trinity University, Universidad Ana G. Méndez – Cupey, University of California – Riverside, and University of California-Santa Cruz.
