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In typical Engineering and Science education, students often are not given opportunities to build skills outside of narrowly defined, technical domains (Lucena 2013). Experiences that encourage students to engage in social justice and activist work is crowded out in traditional STEM programs. Oftentimes, these structures must be created deliberately in order to provide student leaders with this type of mentorship (Leydens 2014, Nieusma 2011). One such initiative, the Access Network, aims to do just that. The Access Network is a collection of programs (sites) that are situated in U.S. universities that work towards a more equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible version of the STEM community (Quan 2019). Access prioritizes student leaders, both at the network-level and in their local sites, by empowering them to take the lead on actions and by providing support for this work. Access sites engage in activities that build inclusive learning communities, provide guidance through peer mentorship, and support growth in students’ leadership around social justice. One major function of the Access Network is to connect students across these local efforts and to facilitate the sharing of ideas and experiences between sites. One central way that this is done is through the work of Network Fellows (NFs), student leaders who work collaboratively in network decision-making and team projects that support the network and the sites. The NF position provides space for students to take power over decision making and supports them through mentorship in social justice and activist approaches (Amezcua 2020). To better understand how students approach this role and view their work, we have conducted semi-structured interviews with nine Network Fellows who served in the role for at least two semesters. In our analysis of emergent themes, we have found that individual agency over their work, shared leadership in decision making, and building relationships across the network are key outcomes of the Network Fellow experience. We have additionally identified key conceptualizations of the team collaboration that Network Fellows discuss that cultivate the outcomes described above. We see these conceptualizations as important for capturing how the Network Fellow team conducts its work. We hope for our work to serve as a model for others that wish to cultivate similar experiences for their own students in STEM.
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The Access Network: Cultivating Equity and Student Leadership in STEM
The Access Network consists of nine university-based sites from across the United States working to increase access, equity, and inclusion in the physical science community. While each site differs in their implementations, they share a commitment to five core principles: 1) fostering supportive learning communities, 2) engaging students in authentic science, 3) developing students' professional skills, 4) empowering students to take ownership of their education, and 5) increasing diversity and equity in the physical sciences. The Access Network enhances the efforts of the sites in the network by cultivating intersite communication, especially facilitating the documenting and sharing of ideas across sites through a variety of network-level activities. In this paper, we articulate our network's goals and activities, share evidence of some positive outcomes, and reflect on areas for future improvement.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1806709
- PAR ID:
- 10180234
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 2019 Physics Education Research Conference
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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