STEM Workforce Development  

Broadening Participation in STEM

Early Career Development (CAREER) Program Workshop for STEM Education Research at Minority-Serving Institutions

Effective Years: 2024-2025

There is a need to develop a diverse community of STEM education researchers from many different institutions. This workshop will engage faculty from Minority-Serving Institutions who are interested in grant-funding for their STEM education research and are eligible for the CAREER program. The sessions will focus on developing a research agenda, proposal preparation, and connecting with other early career scholars in STEM education. Mentors and organizers will include CAREER awardees from the Directorate for STEM Education and researchers at Minority-Serving Institutions. To support the professional development of the early-career faculty, the workshop will have two major components (1) in-person meeting and (2) follow-up work for participants to develop proposals and their research agendas. The sessions will also explore the logistics of proposal development, and the connections between research and education. A critical component of support for early career faculty is helping them form networks for research, teaching, and professional support. Participants will have the opportunity to connect with each other as a community of practice. Mentors will be identified to support the early career STEM education researchers in developing their research concepts. This award is funded by the EDU Core Research (ECR) Program, Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Directorate for STEM Education (IUSE: EDU), the Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) Program, and the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP). The focus of these programs includes innovation in STEM education, STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM and STEM workforce development. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.