Revisiting "Equity in STEM Education": Preparing Teachers to Work Within a Dynamic Discourse

• In Event: 66.087 - MTCC Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: 66.087-4 - Equity, Cultural Responsiveness, and Constructivism in the Preparation of STEM Teachers

Abstract

While immense scholarly literature explores how equity might manifest (or not) in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, many taken-for-granted assumptions remain unexamined. Delving beyond utilitarian aims, we unpack deeper ideological assumptions circulating throughout discourses of ‘equity in STEM’. This paper draws on feminist post-structuralism and feminist new materialism theories to re/examine the ways in which a discourse can and might materialize. Two research questions shape our inquiry with PSTs: (a) What constitutes equity in STEM Education? and (b) How might educators foster equity within an agential discourse? Carefully attending to the language, norms, and practices pre-service elementary teachers employ, this research illuminates more expansive engagements with ‘equity in STEM’ for PSTs, teacher educators, and K-12 students.

Authors

• Kasi Matthews, Millsaps College

• Maria Ferris Greene Wallace, University of Southern Mississippi