STEM Stands Out
When less than 15 out of 100 STEM bachelor's degrees are awarded to students with minoritized racial or ethnic identities, we must recognize that there's a lot at play in this equation (Estrada, et al, 2016).
At California State Universities:
- 58% of bachelor's degrees were awarded to women, yet overall 34% of STEM degrees went to women.
- 21% of bachelor's degrees went to Latinx students, yet overall 15% of STEM degrees went to Latinx students.
- 4% of bachelor's degrees went to Black or African American students, yet overall 2% of STEM degrees went to Black or African Americans.
About the Academy
The Humanizing Online STEM Academy is a research-based online professional development program for faculty developed with a grant from the California Education Learning Lab. The 6-week course defines the problematic inequities in the STEM academic pathway, examines evidence-based strategies shown to improve these problems, and eight humanizing elements that teachers can adopt into their online STEM courses. Faculty who complete the course can incorporate these elements along with culturally responsive "warm demander" pedagogy in their online courses to create a welcoming and equitable environment for all students.
The Academy was piloted and scaled to 82 participants from eight institutions in California, including Ventura College. Preliminary results from a qualitative research study show that the Academy is linked with:
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Student belonging, with higher measures reported among Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander students,
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Improved faculty perceptions of the role instructors play in improving student achievement and on closing equity gaps,
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Heightened awareness of students’ individual experiences and increased flexibility and approachability, and increased instructor-student and student-student interaction
Humanizing Online STEM Instructors at Ventura College
The instructors below have completed the 6-Week Humanizing Online STEM Academy. Some have shared their Humanizing STEM Showcase final projects that include the eight humanizing online teaching elements that they completed in the Academy.
