Exploring Black Evanstonian Visions of STEM Education in a Shifting Political Landscape

• In Event: It Was Never Just About the Grant: The Befores, Durings, and Afters of Educational Justice Work in Times of Grant Cancellation

Abstract

Purposes and Perspectives

Sitting within a larger body of equitable STEM education research, my work seeks to model the cultural and political constructions of STEM education through a localized lens shaped by Black community perspectives. It contributes to the broader goals of educational justice amid shifting national policies and local inequities. This study explores how STEM is perceived and negotiated by Black residents in Evanston, Illinois (Authors1).

This work emerged in response to glaring inequities in STEM education. Scholars have highlighted inequities in STEM education that specifically marginalize Black students through inequitable policies (Flores, 2007; Hypolite & Rogers, 2023; Johnson & Kritsonis, 2006) and social stratification leading to “racial battle fatigue” (McGee, 2020; McGee & Martin, 2011). These inequities are mirrored through standardized testing. The 2024 Illinois Assessment Report showed only 13.5% of Black students in Evanston meeting performance benchmarks in mathematics compared to 42.8% of students overall (Illinois Report Card, 2025). This gap is not merely academic—it is cultural and political, reflecting systemic exclusions and misalignments between institutional and the lived realities of Black families.

Modes of inquiry and data sources

Building from a complementary research team’s findings that Black residents are seeking rigorous STEM education for their youth (Amplifying Black Voices, 2023), I sought personal, culturally specific understandings and aspirations of STEM. I conducted an ethnographic case study through interviews, archival material, and community media. I explored how community members articulate their understandings of STEM and the forms of learning they valued (Authors2).

A turning point occurred when the federal grant supporting this work was cancelled due to national anti-DEI policy (Socha, 2025). The cancellation was both a material loss and symbolic blow, revealing the precarity of equity-driven education efforts and the limits of external validation. The work suffered a major financial loss—but was simultaneously freed from the political constraints of federal funding. I began using data visualization and mapping techniques (Pinkard, 2023; Pinkard et al., 2025) to trace how systemic inequities and community responses intersect. These visualizations serve as both analytic tools and public artifacts, making visible the layered dynamics of race, power, funding, and learning in Evanston’s STEM landscape.

Findings and significance

“What is STEM?” is not a simple or settled question. It is shaped by culturally rooted aspirations, historical harm, and visions for self-determined learning (Authors2). These community-rooted definitions often clash with institutional, compliance-driven interpretations dominating school systems and federal funding mechanisms.

By centering local voices, this work contributes to a redefinition of STEM grounded in community history and collective visions of learning. It also shows how Black communities continue to imagine and pursue educational futures, even amidst grant loss and institutional silence.

Aligned with the symposium’s broader theme, this presentation interrogates how values, relationships, and political clarity sustain justice work during moments of retrenchment. The cancellation served not as a halt, but a pivot and a moment to reassess not just what we are building, but who we are building it with, and why.

Author

• Shai Moore, Northwestern University