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1. What Research Can DO: Rethinking Qualitative Research Designs to Promote Change Towards Equity and Inclusion

   Secules, Stephen; McCall, Cassandra (January 2023, Studies in engineering education)

   Background: The history of engineering education perpetuates a cultural inertia favoring dominant groups. Engineering education research on broadening participation implies a change towards a desired outcome: increased diversity, equity, and inclusion in the engineering profession. However, many research designs focus on knowledge generation without centering a process of change within research activities or collaborations. Purpose: In this theoretical article, we critically examine the current norms of qualitative research on broadening participation to center research designs that push towards change. Scope: First, we present a simple change model as a way of discussing prototypical qualitative research designs in terms of their component parts. We find that these research designs are limiting in terms of enacting significant change. Next, we point to a variety of institutional norms and values that inherently limit research innovation and impact in these contexts, including the traditional policies, practices, and values that shape our work. Lastly, we draw from experiences in our own work to introduce alternative approaches that center change for equity and inclusion within broadening participation research designs and frame this discussion using the same change model concept to highlight those features. Conclusion: In conclusion, we call for more innovation in qualitative research design and suggest some strategies for innovation that push beyond traditional approaches to instill change. 

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2. Board 232: CAREER: Disrupting the Status Quo Regarding Who Gets to Be an Engineer—Highlights from Year 2

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--42673  

   London, Jeremi; McIntyre, Brianna; Jefferson, Nicole (June 2023, Review directory American Society for Engineering Education)

   Although broadening participation efforts aim to transform who has access to engineering by targeting those historically excluded, Black and Brown students’ participation remains stifled by the exclusionary culture and practices ingrained in engineering. Consequently, there is a need for scholarship that advances our understanding of systemic changes that center equity, challenge exclusionary cultural norms, and ultimately contribute to a disruption in the status quo of who gets to be an engineer. Using a multi-case research design that is framed by Kotter’s Leading Change theory and Acker’s Inequality Regimes as theoretical foundations, this CAREER award aims to uncover the change strategies institutionalized by five exemplary COEs to improve Black and Brown students’ access to engineering education and careers. This executive summary presents insights about the second year of the study and is organized around three topics—project overview, year 2 research activity summary, and looking ahead to year 3. 

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3. Board 220: Audio for Inclusion: Broadening Participation in Engineering Through Audio Dissemination of Marginalized Students’ Narratives

   Secules, Stephen; McCall, Cassandra; Kali, Maimuna Begum; Van Dyke, Gabe (June 2023, ASEE annual conference exposition)

   The transformation of engineering culture towards inclusion is a key objective in the retention and professionalization of a diverse engineering workforce. Faculty are key stakeholders impacting that inclusion because of their prominent role in shaping students’ underrepresented, marginalized, and/or hidden identities and core experiences in engineering classrooms. Yet, many faculty are not provided with practicable resources and training that can enrich their knowledge, empathy, and understanding of students’ diverse and marginalized experiences that differ from their own. This lack of resources has slowed the transformation of engineering culture and provides an opportunity for practical impact by researchers and faculty developers. However, the topic of developing inclusive culture remains understudied and has evaded traditional approaches to education research. Quantitative approaches can broadly identify the presence of marginalization or inclusion, but they lack the nuance to enhance a reader’s inclusive understanding. In contrast, qualitative and narrative-based approaches provide rich accounts of marginalized experiences and perspectives, but do not typically reach a broad audience of technical engineering faculty. Thus, these accounts are often disseminated to faculty and researchers already interested and invested in broadening participation, perpetuating a cycle of “preaching to the choir”. In the Audio for Inclusion project, we answer BPE’s call for innovative methods that increase research impact on broadening participation outcomes by proposing a novel audio narrative dissemination approach to foster inclusive understandings for engineering faculty. Specifically, we ask the following research questions: ● What marginalized student narratives related to identity and agency are present in engineering educational culture? ● How does hearing these narratives impact faculty perspectives of diversity and inclusion in engineering classrooms? This interactive poster presents the student audio narratives developed so far and overviews the entire project. 

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4. Audio Dissemination for Qualitative and Broadening Participation Research: Lessons Learned and Future Possibilities

   Secules, Stephen; Kali, Maimuna Begum; McCall, Cassandra (January 2022, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference)

   Background: While a primary goal of education research is discovering and disseminating scholarly knowledge, traditional dissemination alone is insufficient to foster sustainable educational change. Journals and conferences target a particular audience invested in a specific topic; it is often not practical for stakeholders to engage with research outside of their specific areas of specialization. Thus, the research-to-practice gap continually widens as education research findings fail to influence wider audiences. Purpose: In this paper, we highlight audio as a promising alternative format for dissemination. Audio dissemination has the potential to multiply the impacts of qualitative research by disseminating findings with more immediacy and accessibility than traditional research publications. Approach: We summarize one specific audio narrative dissemination approach conducted as part of the pilot phase of the Audio for Inclusion Project, a recent National Science Foundation-funded project to foster inclusive understandings for engineering faculty. We organize the discussion around orienting goals and challenges encountered, as well as lessons learned and suggestions for future improvements. Findings: Lessons learned for audio narrative dissemination include paying close attention to creating a coherent and cohesive narrative by removing distracting details, and aligning student actors with participants so that the tone, affect, and emphasis remain true to the participant. Implications: This paper presents new possibilities for qualitative researchers on broadening participation, to repurpose their interview content to form practical resources and training that can improve faculty’s knowledge, empathy, and understanding of students’ diverse and marginalized backgrounds. Additionally, these findings will be useful for all researchers seeking new methods of translating research findings into actionable impact. 

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5. Formation of the Inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research (iEMBER) Network: Building a Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

   https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.18-03-0042  

   Tennial, Rachel E.; Solomon, Erin D.; Hammonds-Odie, Latanya; McDowell, Gary S.; Moore, Michael; Roca, Alberto I.; Marcette, Jana (March 2019, CBE—Life Sciences Education)

   The Inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research (iEMBER) network is a newly forming national community of practice that engages diversity, equity, and inclusion stakeholders in interdisciplinary collaborative projects. iEMBER was initiated with incubator funding from the National Science Foundation program for Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education. In June 2017, biology education researchers, social scientists, biologists, and program and policy administrators, all with interests in diversity, equity, and inclusion, met to lay the foundation for the iEMBER network. iEMBER provides a distinct forum to coordinate efforts through networking, professional development, and the initiation of collaborative research. iEMBER advances science, technology, engineering, and mathematics reform focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion through the initiation of research teams at the iEMBER biennial conference and outreach efforts at discipline-specific meetings and conferences. The focus of iEMBER is on understanding how to create inclusive, supportive, and engaging environments to foster the success of all biology students and trainees. This report focuses on the structure of the iEMBER network, two takeaways that emerged from the 2017 conference (interdisciplinary networking/collaboration and intradisciplinary broadening participation strategies), and ways for prospective members to engage in ongoing dialogue and future events. Learn more at http://iember.org . 

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