The racialized structure of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) higher education maintains gross inequities that are illustrative of structural racism, which both informs and is reinforced by discriminatory beliefs, policies, values, and distribution of resources. Thus, an examination into structural racism in STEM is needed to…

How and when does affirmative action emerge in different national contexts? This paper is the first to analyze the emergence of affirmative action in higher education across national contexts. We find that three distinct clusters of affirmative action policies developed historically: (1) early nation-building projects, (2) mechanisms to attenuate…

This case study sought to understand how 17 undergraduate students in the humanities and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors positioned themselves in terms of gender in relation to their leadership and risk-taking skills. For this study, I used students' artifacts, semistructured interviews, and focus group discussions, which…

Gender equity issues remain a challenge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, where women are highly underrepresented. As integrated STEM instruction becomes increasingly popular in elementary and middle school classrooms, it is important to consider whether the small group activities that are commonplace in STEM…

School-funding changes over the last decade have created funding inequities for Indiana's students from low-income communities, students with disabilities, English language learners, and students in public charter schools--inequities which will likely be exacerbated by COVID-19. Students of color are disproportionately impacted by these funding…

The U.S. National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2020 ("National Strategy 2020" or "National Strategy") promotes the financial literacy of Americans in two ways. First, it identifies methods to improve and increase the financial literacy and education of Americans. Second, it articulates the federal government's roles,…

The American workforce is currently experiencing an increased level of diversity in comparison to previous decades due to augmented representation of people of different races, socio-economic backgrounds and genders across sectors (Warner, 2014). However, there is one variable that has remained largely unchanged, the underrepresentation of African…

This design case describes the development of three analog games intended to introduce middle school-age girls to core computer science (CS) concepts. We describe the learning objectives, game mechanics, and narrative elements of each game, and some key problems and decisions that we confronted during the design process. Our design process was…

Dual enrollment (DE), in which high school students take college courses and earn both high school and college credit, has great potential to help make the high-school-to-college transition more effective and equitable--and to do so on a large scale. There is strong evidence that DE improves academic outcomes for students, including completing…

Located in southwestern Pennsylvania near the borders of Maryland and West Virginia, the district has 1,483 students, with 21% minority enrollment. The district and its students have experienced many of the problems related to the opioid epidemic, including many students being raised by grandparents due to parental drug use. The district has three…

Black males face several active and inactive discriminations across society. In education, they encounter stiffer disciplinary actions such as out of school suspension and expulsion than their White peers, are overrepresented in special education programs as well as over diagnosed; are underrepresented in gifted in talented programs; advanced…

Three projects that use evidence- and research-based practice to engage and support three under-served audiences -- children with special educational needs (Science Hunters -- Lancaster University), young carers (Young Carer Chemistry Workshops at Cotton On -- Science from the Start) and girls and women in engineering (Women Like Me -- UWE…

Universities are no longer limited to traditional media platforms for recruitment advertising; increasingly, institutions are using online videos and social media to promote themselves locally and internationally. We analysed a sample of 81 YouTube videos that promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses in 40…

Recent policy and research efforts have focused on simplifying the college-going process, improving transparency around college costs, and helping students make informed decisions. In 2012, the Obama administration released the "shopping sheet," a standardized financial aid offer that is intended to provide students with simplified…

We examined the effects of a teacher coaching program on discipline referrals using records from 7,794 U.S. classrooms in secondary schools. Some classroom teachers took part in a trial: They were randomized to receive intensive coaching in a focal classroom or to form a business-as-usual control group. The remaining teachers taught in the same…