NSF Award
2314918
Marine and climate sciences (MCS) scientists play an important role in society because of their focus on both local and global issues affecting the environment and people. Yet MCS are some of the least diverse STEM disciplines, including limited change in the number of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) in MCS over the past 40 years. Climate and culture in MCS have been identified as actively contributing to the low participation and retention of BIPOC individuals in the disciplines and their disparate academic and professional outcomes, through gatekeeping, professional barriers, and other obstacles. The purpose of this research project is to examine how Woods Hole Collaborative Network (WHCN) researchers and administrators advance collaborations for equity in MCS and what processes are employed for developing equity-driven and anti-racist educational collaborations, infrastructures, and pathways. Project outcomes will span individual, institutional, and disciplinary level transformations. <br/> <br/>This research project will investigate the WHCN, a multi-organizational collaboration between six predominantly white institutions located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The project focuses on three questions: (1) What features among the WHCN promote or inhibit institutional and disciplinary transformation? (2) In what ways has the WHCN pursued equitable collaborations and how has their collaboration evolved over time? (3) What effective and ineffective features of the WHCN’s initiatives can inform MCS collaborations? Drawing from nearly 20 years of WHCN’s programmatic efforts, researchers will utilize an instrumental case study to center the context and processes of a bounded case, with organizations (e.g., institutions) and individuals (e.g., students, scientists, and affiliated staff) as units of analyses. An instrumental case aligns with the project’s goal to develop a model that maps the process and infrastructure for transformation. The research design includes: (1) BIPOC storytelling and standpoint centering through qualitative interviews and qualitative network mapping with Woods Hole-affiliated BIPOC students, scientists, and alumni; (2) organizational and historical analysis through observations of WHCN initiatives, historical analysis of WHCN’s development, and analysis of student data, documented policies, activities, goals and procedures related to WHCN; and (3) model development, which will reflect a replicable and scalable model for equity-centered support in STEM collaborations.<br/><br/>This collaborative project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education activities (EDU Racial Equity). The program supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise. This program aligns with NSF’s core value of supporting outstanding researchers and innovative thinkers from across the Nation's diversity of demographic groups, regions, and types of organizations. Funds for EDU Racial Equity are pooled from programs across EDU in recognition of the alignment of its projects with the collective research and development thrusts of the four divisions of the directorate.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
