A substantial grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will fund a collaborative effort to support students who have been historically excluded from STEM-related disciplines.
Simmons University recently announced that it has been awarded a six-year STEM grant as part of an ambitious collaborative effort by 104 US colleges and universities to substantially and sustainably build capacity for student belonging – especially for those who have been historically excluded from the sciences. This work is funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) with grants – totaling more than $60 million over six years.
"Sustaining advances in diversity and inclusion requires a scientific culture that is centered on equity," said Blanton Tolbert, HHMI's Vice President of science leadership and culture. "In science education, increasing the number of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds must go hand in hand with creating inclusive learning environments in which everyone can thrive."
The challenges were carefully selected to help the schools focus on designing strategies to prevent the massive loss of talent from STEM that occurs during the college years. Of the nearly one million students who enter college annually intending to study STEM, more than half will not complete a STEM bachelor's degree. Those who leave STEM are disproportionately students who are first in their family to attend college, students who begin at community colleges, students from historically excluded ethnic and racial groups, and women. Currently, women make up just 28% of the nation's STEM workforce.
"The mission of Simmons is to educate everyday leaders for their life's work, with a special focus on empowering women and advancing social justice," said Simmons President Lynn Perry Wooten. "This grant will help build on the work our institution is doing to support students in the STEM fields and to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, which is so important to increasing access and advancing student success in these areas."
With a smaller subset of 14 institutions, Simmons identified three critical interventions necessary to grow institutional capacity for inclusion. The first is DEI-focused professional development (PD), to establish and institutionalize PD practices to increase belonging and persistence among our STEM students. The second is curricular redesign of introductory STEM courses and pathways, grounded in DEI principles and pedagogical strategies to support the success of all students. The third is to establish a truly inclusive peer-to-peer environment in STEM, whereby all STEM students can fully "belong" to a supportive and inclusive community.
This collaboration with HHMI is an extension of Simmons University's commitment to Inclusive Excellence and aligned with President Wooten's charge to the President's Advisory Council "to demonstrate inclusive everyday leadership by increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion at Simmons through action, institutional change, education and development, inspiration, and measurement."
This work also aligns with Dean Sharp-McHenry's Racial Solidarity Statement to "elevate the importance of an equity centered education."