NSF Award
2426973
New York University, Northwestern University, and the University of Pennsylvania form the Critical STEM Faculty Alliance (C-STEM). Leveraging their combined strengths, they aim to develop an infrastructural technology system that provides more opportunities and lowers systemic risks for historically underrepresented groups. C-STEM will examine college and university functions, to understand how to train effective technology researchers and teachers from these groups. NSF emphasizes creating opportunities everywhere. Accordingly, C-STEM seeks to help new researchers from underrepresented backgrounds build strong professional networks, establish stable pathways that advance careers, and collaborate with other experts in academia, industry, and government. Also, C-STEM aims to help researchers build new projects and design innovative educational tools to improve people's lives. Its goal is to ensure that technology serves the public interest, especially those who have been most negatively affected by technology.<br/><br/>C-STEM aims to design and implement institutional self-assessments at the three C-STEM Alliance institutions. The alliance will prioritize collecting and analyzing data to identify inequities affecting underrepresented minority (URM) doctoral students, postdoctoral scholars and early career faculty in STEM fields. To assess the need for the C-STEM Alliance, the project will collect data on the demographic representation (race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, first-generation status) of doctoral students and faculty in STEM and related fields. The project will also conduct curriculum surveys to understand demographic and socio-technical content representation in STEM courses, and review research production by minority and non-minority STEM students and faculty. Surveys will also evaluate existing mentorship and support structures, and collect data on minority STEM doctoral student outcomes, such as degree completion and post-degree hiring. Additionally, the alliance will gather qualitative data from minority STEM students and faculty about their experiences. This data will help identify institutional challenges and justify the alliance's activities, demonstrating how they address specific needs. To assess institutional readiness, the project will collect data that include reviews of diversity commitments by university leaders and progress towards diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. This will demonstrate C-STEM institutions’ commitment to increasing the representation, resilience, and success of minority doctoral students and faculty in STEM. The alliance intends for this work to help research communities better understand the incentives and affordances institutional leaders’ encounter in their efforts to create, continue, or expand key structures, such as postdoctoral programs and frameworks for transitioning postdoctoral scholars to tenure-track positions.<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.
