Tertiary STEM for All: Enabling Student Success Through Teaching for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in STEM

Abstract

This position paper sets out the need and rationale for systemic change in STEM learning and teaching as a means of retaining and supporting the success of underrepresented cohorts in STEM. Efforts in recruiting and retaining these students in STEM higher education degrees and subsequently, STEM careers, will continue to be undermined, if we are unable to provide them with a supportive learning environment that recognises and mitigates the inherent disparities that they have historically faced and continue to face. We propose that rather than focusing on an individual equity group and how to best support them, which may lead to perpetuation of a deficit mindset for faculty, we instead propose a project that considers the biases inherent in our current pedagogical practices and the ways in which we can build awareness of the inequities that these entrench. We intend for the outcomes of this project to support the ongoing efforts for individual equity groups as well as mitigating against future inequities by empowering faculty to create inclusive learning experiences.