Critically Examining STEM Faculty and Teacher Educators' Intersectional Competence

• In Event: Reimagining Methodological Approaches for Disrupting Anti-Blackness in STEM Education

Abstract

Despite research demonstrating the value added by diverse teams, STEM disciplines have eschewed multidimensional approaches to supporting collaboration and inclusive instructional practices that respond to manifestations of inequities and power differentials (Howard & Joseph, 2021). The Intersectional Competence Measure (ICM; Boveda, 2016) is an evaluative tool to assess educators' understanding of intersectionality; prior research on intersectional competence captured how PK-12 educators are prepared to address learners’ intersecting markers of differences. Expanding on this work, the Intersectionally Conscious Collaboration (ICC) protocol was developed for university faculty, including those in STEM and teacher education (Boveda & Weinberg, 2020). The protocol is intended to resist racist and anti-Black university practices as they are entangled with other systems of oppression (e.g., ableism, classism, and patriarchy). In conversations with the other panelists who emphasize interventions for early childhood, K-12, and undergraduate learners, we underscore the distinctive contribution Black STEM faculty and teacher educators serve in facilitating greater intersectional competence amongst their colleagues.

Authors

• Mildred Boveda, The Pennsylvania State University

• Nicol R. Howard, University of Redlands