Reclaiming Canceled Futures: The Interpretive Value of STEM Education Grants in Defining Scientific Research

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Saturday 1:45 pm
  In Poster Session: Division G: Section 4-Policies, Mattering, and Praxis Poster Session

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate how the current defunding of STEM education grants is refueling a decades-old debate about what counts as educational research. We critique whose voices are denied when those in power in our White, dominant culture terminate research efforts attempting to understand how inclusivity in STEM might change our collective scientific futures. We selected three terminated grants as cases to understand the strength of the stated goals for broadening participation in STEM. Our findings suggest that intentionality and belonging in post-secondary STEM and the STEM teacher workforce are not currently considered worthy endeavors of STEM Research, spurring us to imagine how to fortify these pursuits in the future.

Authors

• Kristina Kramarczuk, University of Maryland

• Danielle Gervais Sodani, American University