Webinar on June 2: Overcoming barriers – Teaching for diversity and equity in STEM

Despite national efforts such as the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) programme and the Male Champions of Change (MCC) STEM that were established by the Federal Government in 2016, Australia is still struggling to improve STEM participation of traditionally marginalised cohorts. Women, disabled people, Indigenous people as well as people from other cultures and low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds face barriers in accessing traditional bastions of STEM academia and industries. One reason for this disparity is that these cohorts are often discouraged by their STEM educational experience that does little to cater for their diverse needs (Fisher et. al, 2020; Dancy et. al, 2020; Wanelik et. al, 2020).

The terms ‘diversity’ and ‘equity’ refer to the creation of equivalent opportunities for access and success in Australian higher education. This is especially important for historically disadvantaged or underrepresented student populations, other groups protected in Equal Opportunity and anti-discrimination legislation, and those covered by the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program as defined by the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2015 (HES Framework).  This workshop is targeted at STEM teaching leadership and educators to explore the concepts of diversity and equity within STEM teaching practices. It will engage participants through reflexive exercises and case study discussion to allow for multiple points of view and foster better understanding of their teaching practices.

Time: Wednesday June 2, 1.30 pm AEST

Workshop facilitators:

• Reva Ramiah (Curtin University)
• Lisa Godinho (The University of Melbourne)
• Angela Ziebell (Monash University)
• Joanne Castelli (University of Western Australia)
• Stephen George-Williams (The University of Sydney).

References

Dancy, M., Rainey, K., Stearns, E., Mickelson, R., & Moller, S. (2020). Undergraduates’ awareness of White and male privilege in STEM. International Journal of STEM Education, 7(1), 1-17.

 Fisher, C. R., Thompson, C. D., & Brookes, R. H. (2020). Gender differences in the Australian undergraduate STEM student experience: a systematic review. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(6), 1155-1168

 Wanelik, K. M., Griffin, J. S., Head, M. L., Ingleby, F. C., & Lewis, Z. (2020). Breaking barriers? Ethnicity and socioeconomic background impact on early career progression in the fields of ecology and evolution. Ecology and evolution, 10(14), 6870-6880.

Photo by Agence Olloweb on Unsplash