Cultivating STEM Equity Ambassadors to Address the Barriers to Equity in STEM Education
IDRA named eight educators in San Antonio as STEM Equity Ambassadors for the 2023-24 school year. The Alamo STEM Ecosystem, co-led by IDRA, partnered with the other three Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC) partners across the country to support over 30 STEM Equity Ambassadors using interactive and experiential teaching methods to support them as they develop a robust STEM action plan for their own school and school district.
Our STEM Equity Ambassadors for 2023-24 were:
- Kathryn Bolish
- Melissa Consiglio, M.A.
- Samuel Ebong
- James Hernández, Ph.D.
- Alma Ramos, M.A., M.Ed.
- Amanda Roberts, Ph.D.
- Sarah Stoebner
- Angela Votion, M.S.
STEM Equity Ambassadors identified ways individual STEM educators can impact persistent underrepresentation, such as race and gender in STEM fields. The program focused intently on the student experience and encourages educators to create space for understanding what equity means for the individual.
Learn more!
STEM Equity Ambassadors eBook – Cultivating STEM Equity Ambassadors to Address the Barriers to Equity in STEM Education, October 28, 2024
Teachers on STEM Equity for Students – Podcast Episode 246, October 28, 2024
Ambassador Educators on Promoting STEM Equity – Classnotes Podcast #241, April 3, 2024
The 2023-24 program, “Cultivating STEM Equity Ambassadors to Address the Barriers to Equity in STEM Education,” used virtual and in-person sessions to identify ways individual STEM educators can impact persistent underrepresentation in areas such as race and gender in STEM fields. The year-long program used interactive, experiential, critical arts-based, culturally relevant framework to engage teachers in defining and operationalizing equity in all aspects of their STEM work.
Across the curriculum, our STEM Equity Ambassadors deeply explored topics that promote equity through culturally relevant STEM pedagogy. Topics included equity audits, curriculum design, and planning programs that engage students, teachers, families and community.
In addition to content knowledge, ambassadors engaged with a passionate peer community, focused on equity in STEM education, and developing an equity action plan for their own workplaces. Upon completion, participants will earn a DoD STEM microcredential in STEM equity.
This program was jointly presented by IDRA, Arizona State University Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College (ASU MLFTC), Learning Undefeated, and the Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM (TIES) and was funded through the DoD STEM DSEC Innovation Bloc, which strategically addresses programming gaps, expands reach, and strengthens DSEC alignment to evolving DoD priorities including building skills in support of critical technology areas to enhance technical capabilities for the future.
