EDC to Lead Conference Series to Promote Diversity in STEM
EDC has been awarded a $4.4 million grant to host the National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) 2024–2027 National Research Conference Series. The goal of the AGEP program is to increase the number of historically underrepresented minority faculty in STEM. Since 2019, EDC has led evaluation capacity-building conferences for NSF AGEP awardees and their evaluators.
AGEP awardees work with STEM doctoral candidates, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty from groups identified as the “missing millions” from the STEM workforce and higher education, as noted in the National Science Board’s Vision 2030. These individuals include faculty who are Black, African American, Hispanic and Latino American, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Native Pacific Islanders.
The AGEP National Research Conference series will advance knowledge about initiatives that can be institutionalized, sustained, and strengthened to increase the number of historically underrepresented minority faculty in STEM. As convener, EDC will host four annual events that will engage hundreds of NSF AGEP awardees and widely share findings in printed annual proceedings, as well as on the AGEP National Research Conference Series website.
The National Research Conference Series will provide an opportunity for awardees to discuss strategies to accomplish the following:
- Address systemic barriers to equitably recruiting, hiring, retaining, and promoting faculty
- Broaden participation in academic STEM career pathways
- Sustain institutional and systemic change
The upcoming 2024 annual conference will celebrate 25 years of the AGEP program. AGEP awardees, students, faculty, and experts will come together to celebrate the outcomes of their work, learn from each other, and connect with experts on intersectionality.
“The AGEP program has a proven track record of addressing long-standing disparities in higher education,” said EDC’s Leslie Goodyear, principal investigator for the National Research Conference Series. “We are thrilled to partner with the NSF on this important initiative, and we look forward to honoring the AGEP program’s influence and helping awardees connect and learn from each other.”
Learn more about EDC’s work to broaden participation in STEM education and careers, including computer science education and rural STEM education.