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Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms are not race-neutral spaces, and instructors have the power to center racial equity and inclusion in their instructional practices. Yet how instructors think about race and racism can impact whether and how they adopt inclusive practices. We examined how 39 undergraduate STEM instructors noticed anti-Black racialized events that were experienced by students in classroom narratives. We created narrative cases that described multiple common, harmful anti-Black racialized experiences based on extant research and guidance from an expert advisory board. Instructors responded to cases by describing the problems they noticed. Using frameworks of racial noticing and color-evasive racial ideology, we conducted qualitative content analysis of instructor responses. Color-evasive racial ideology was pervasive, with most responses (54%) avoiding any discussion of race, and few responses acknowledging race or racism in more than one event (10%). We characterized six forms of color-evasiveness. This study adds to a growing body of literature indicating that color-evasion is pervasive in STEM culture. Instructors would benefit from professional development that specifically aims to counter color-evasiveness and anti-Blackness in teaching. Furthermore, STEM disciplines must pursue systemic change so that our organizations value, expect, promote, and reward the development and enactment of a critical racial consciousness.

Equity in education has been conceptualized in various ways, which provides different affordances and constraints for policy, research, and teaching decisions. Regarding the latter, there is a dearth of research on how postsecondary science faculty conceptualize equity and whether and how their understandings of equity may be informing their teaching and related practices. This study examined equity conceptions and reported teaching practices among 45 faculty members in a College of Sciences at a research intensive, historically White, public university in the United States. Thematic analysis showed that faculty conceptualized equity in three ways--"equality," "inclusion," or "justice"--and these conceptions were associated with instructor-centered or student-centered practices. Professors with "equality" conceptions of equity tended to report teaching mostly via lecture, while those with "inclusion" conceptions reported using active learning and/or inclusive teaching practices. Most professors with a "justice" conception went beyond active learning and inclusive practices to also include an emerging critical pedagogy. Conceptions of equity appear to inform how university science faculty see their roles in advancing equity in their classrooms. These findings provide a foundation for future research that seeks to support college science faculty's understandings of equity issues in higher education and the pedagogical practices necessary to ameliorate them.

Scholars across disciplines and throughout PK-20 education have argued that color-blind ideology works to perpetuate racial inequities in education via policies, research, curriculum, instruction, and student-teacher interactions. This study explores an underexamined issue in relation to color-blind ideology in STEM education. Specifically, it examines how a sample of college science faculty members use color-blind framings to make sense of the underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students in their fields. Interviews were conducted with 42 professors (majority tenured/tenure-track, white, male, and continuing generation to college) in a College of Sciences at a research-intensive, historically white institution in the United States. Thematic analysis showed that while many faculty members implicated systemic racism in their sense making about the underrepresentation of racially minoritized students in STEM, the majority used color-blind frames (abstract liberalism, cultural racism, and minimization of racism) by focusing on individual behaviors and choices, cultural deficits, under-preparation, and poverty. Consistent with the research on color-blind ideology, professors were able to explain racial phenomena without implicating race/racism, which allowed them to absolve themselves from responsibility in addressing racial inequality issues in higher education. Faculty members who made sense of underrepresentation through systemic racism framings tended to recognize that they had a role to play in ameliorating these issues for students of color. These findings have implications for future research and professional development efforts.

Young women remain underrepresented among engineering bachelor's degree holders. While there is a relatively large body of extant research on the many factors that curtail young women's interest in pursuing engineering, less is known about high school girls who are on an engineering pathway. Therefore, this study focuses on a select group of precollege young women who express a strong interest in engineering. Specifically, informed by theories of gender as a social system and previous empirical research, this mixed-methods study explores the constellation of significant actors within the daily lives of these young women, to understand from whom and how they are supported in pursuing this gender-atypical field, and simultaneously, from whom and how they are discouraged. To do so, the researchers analyzed survey and interview data from a sample of diverse high school girls who participate in the Society of Women Engineers' (SWE) SWENext programme. Quantitative results indicate that young women report high levels of encouragement from most sources, including parents, teachers, and other young women. However, across various peer contexts, they receive much more support from other young women than from young men. Qualitative results further reveal that parents and teachers stand out in young women's recollections of encouragement, often through advocating their participation in engineering activities or providing mentoring support. In contrast, young men in engineering spaces were recalled as particularly discouraging of their engineering participation, by socially or physically excluding them or refusing to provide recognition. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Instructor Talk--noncontent language used by instructors in classrooms--is a recently defined and promising variable for better understanding classroom dynamics. Having previously characterized the Instructor Talk framework within the context of a single course, we present here our results surrounding the applicability of the Instructor Talk framework to noncontent language used by instructors in novel course contexts. We analyzed Instructor Talk in eight additional biology courses in their entirety and in 61 biology courses using an emergent sampling strategy. We observed widespread use of Instructor Talk with variation in the amount and category type used. The vast majority of Instructor Talk could be characterized using the originally published Instructor Talk framework, suggesting the robustness of this framework. Additionally, a new form of Instructor Talk--Negatively Phrased Instructor Talk, language that may discourage students or distract from the learning process--was detected in these novel course contexts. Finally, the emergent sampling strategy described here may allow investigation of Instructor Talk in even larger numbers of courses across institutions and disciplines. Given its widespread use, potential influence on students in learning environments, and ability to be sampled, Instructor Talk may be a key variable to consider in future research on teaching and learning in higher education.

Many efforts to improve science teaching in higher education focus on a few faculty members at an institution at a time, with limited published evidence on attempts to engage faculty across entire departments. We created a long-term, department-wide collaborative professional development program, Biology Faculty Explorations in Scientific Teaching (Biology FEST). Across 3 years of Biology FEST, 89% of the department's faculty completed a weeklong scientific teaching institute, and 83% of eligible instructors participated in additional semester-long follow-up programs. A semester after institute completion, the majority of Biology FEST alumni reported adding active learning to their courses. These instructor self-reports were corroborated by audio analysis of classroom noise and surveys of students in biology courses on the frequency of active-learning techniques used in classes taught by Biology FEST alumni and nonalumni. Three years after Biology FEST launched, faculty participants overwhelmingly reported that their teaching was positively affected. Unexpectedly, most respondents also believed that they had improved relationships with departmental colleagues and felt a greater sense of belonging to the department. Overall, our results indicate that biology department-wide collaborative efforts to develop scientific teaching skills can indeed attract large numbers of faculty, spark widespread change in teaching practices, and improve departmental relations.

Equity in education has been conceptualized in various ways, which provides different affordances and constraints for policy, research, and teaching decisions. Regarding the latter, there is a dearth of research on how postsecondary science faculty conceptualize equity and whether and how their understandings of equity may be informing their teaching and related practices. This study examined equity conceptions and reported teaching practices among 45 faculty members in a College of Sciences at a research intensive, historically White, public university in the United States. Thematic analysis showed that faculty conceptualized equity in three ways—"equality," "inclusion," or "justice"—and these conceptions were associated with instructor‐centered or student‐centered practices. Professors with "equality" conceptions of equity tended to report teaching mostly via lecture, while those with "inclusion" conceptions reported using active learning and/or inclusive teaching practices. Most professors with a "justice" conception went beyond active learning and inclusive practices to also include an emerging critical pedagogy. Conceptions of equity appear to inform how university science faculty see their roles in advancing equity in their classrooms. These findings provide a foundation for future research that seeks to support college science faculty's understandings of equity issues in higher education and the pedagogical practices necessary to ameliorate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes interviews with 33 racially diverse high school girls who have expressed interest in engineering careers. Using the framework of critical consciousness and informed by intersectional theories, the authors examine their views about gender inequality in engineering. Results revealed that while most articulated systemic understandings of inequality, Black participants were particularly likely to exhibit this critical reflection. Yet many young women revealed a more emerging form of critical reflection, particularly Asian participants. Few respondents expressed critical self-efficacy, or confidence to challenge gender inequality in their future careers; such views were almost exclusively held by Black and Latinx respondents. In contrast, White respondents commonly invoked a "lean-in" self-efficacy to be successful navigating, but not challenging, the White male-dominated engineering workforce. Overall, we find clear evidence that young women's racialized identities have implications not only for their understandings of gender inequality, but also for their motivation to disrupt it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars across disciplines and throughout PK‐20 education have argued that color‐blind ideology works to perpetuate racial inequities in education via policies, research, curriculum, instruction, and student‐teacher interactions. This study explores an underexamined issue in relation to color‐blind ideology in STEM education. Specifically, it examines how a sample of college science faculty members use color‐blind framings to make sense of the underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students in their fields. Interviews were conducted with 42 professors (majority tenured/tenure‐track, white, male, and continuing generation to college) in a College of Sciences at a research‐intensive, historically white institution in the United States. Thematic analysis showed that while many faculty members implicated systemic racism in their sense making about the underrepresentation of racially minoritized students in STEM, the majority used color‐blind frames (abstract liberalism, cultural racism, and minimization of racism) by focusing on individual behaviors and choices, cultural deficits, under‐preparation, and poverty. Consistent with the research on color‐blind ideology, professors were able to explain racial phenomena without implicating race/racism, which allowed them to absolve themselves from responsibility in addressing racial inequality issues in higher education. Faculty members who made sense of underrepresentation through systemic racism framings tended to recognize that they had a role to play in ameliorating these issues for students of color. These findings have implications for future research and professional development efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young women remain underrepresented among engineering bachelor's degree holders. While there is a relatively large body of extant research on the many factors that curtail young women's interest in pursuing engineering, less is known about high school girls who are on an engineering pathway. Therefore, this study focuses on a select group of precollege young women who express a strong interest in engineering. Specifically, informed by theories of gender as a social system and previous empirical research, this mixed‐methods study explores the constellation of significant actors within the daily lives of these young women, to understand from whom and how they are supported in pursuing this gender‐atypical field, and simultaneously, from whom and how they are discouraged. To do so, the researchers analyzed survey and interview data from a sample of diverse high school girls who participate in the Society of Women Engineers' (SWE) SWENext programme. Quantitative results indicate that young women report high levels of encouragement from most sources, including parents, teachers, and other young women. However, across various peer contexts, they receive much more support from other young women than from young men. Qualitative results further reveal that parents and teachers stand out in young women's recollections of encouragement, often through advocating their participation in engineering activities or providing mentoring support. In contrast, young men in engineering spaces were recalled as particularly discouraging of their engineering participation, by socially or physically excluding them or refusing to provide recognition. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms are not race-neutral spaces, and instructors have the power to center racial equity and inclusion in their instructional practices. Yet how instructors think about race and racism can impact whether and how they adopt inclusive practices. We examined how 39 undergraduate STEM instructors noticed anti-Black racialized events that were experienced by students in classroom narratives. We created narrative cases that described multiple common, harmful anti-Black racialized experiences based on extant research and guidance from an expert advisory board. Instructors responded to cases by describing the problems they noticed. Using frameworks of racial noticing and color-evasive racial ideology, we conducted qualitative content analysis of instructor responses. Color-evasive racial ideology was pervasive, with most responses (54%) avoiding any discussion of race, and few responses acknowledging race or racism in more than one event (10%). We characterized six forms of color-evasiveness. This study adds to a growing body of literature indicating that color-evasion is pervasive in STEM culture. Instructors would benefit from professional development that specifically aims to counter color-evasiveness and anti-Blackness in teaching. Furthermore, STEM disciplines must pursue systemic change so that our organizations value, expect, promote, and reward the development and enactment of a critical racial consciousness.

Instructor Talk-noncontent language used by instructors in classrooms-is a recently defined and promising variable for better understanding classroom dynamics. Having previously characterized the Instructor Talk framework within the context of a single course, we present here our results surrounding the applicability of the Instructor Talk framework to noncontent language used by instructors in novel course contexts. We analyzed Instructor Talk in eight additional biology courses in their entirety and in 61 biology courses using an emergent sampling strategy. We observed widespread use of Instructor Talk with variation in the amount and category type used. The vast majority of Instructor Talk could be characterized using the originally published Instructor Talk framework, suggesting the robustness of this framework. Additionally, a new form of Instructor Talk-Negatively Phrased Instructor Talk, language that may discourage students or distract from the learning process-was detected in these novel course contexts. Finally, the emergent sampling strategy described here may allow investigation of Instructor Talk in even larger numbers of courses across institutions and disciplines. Given its widespread use, potential influence on students in learning environments, and ability to be sampled, Instructor Talk may be a key variable to consider in future research on teaching and learning in higher education.

Many efforts to improve science teaching in higher education focus on a few faculty members at an institution at a time, with limited published evidence on attempts to engage faculty across entire departments. We created a long-term, department-wide collaborative professional development program, Biology Faculty Explorations in Scientific Teaching (Biology FEST). Across 3 years of Biology FEST, 89% of the department's faculty completed a weeklong scientific teaching institute, and 83% of eligible instructors participated in additional semester-long follow-up programs. A semester after institute completion, the majority of Biology FEST alumni reported adding active learning to their courses. These instructor self-reports were corroborated by audio analysis of classroom noise and surveys of students in biology courses on the frequency of active-learning techniques used in classes taught by Biology FEST alumni and nonalumni. Three years after Biology FEST launched, faculty participants overwhelmingly reported that their teaching was positively affected. Unexpectedly, most respondents also believed that they had improved relationships with departmental colleagues and felt a greater sense of belonging to the department. Overall, our results indicate that biology department-wide collaborative efforts to develop scientific teaching skills can indeed attract large numbers of faculty, spark widespread change in teaching practices, and improve departmental relations., (© 2018 M. T. Owens et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2018 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).)

In this study, we expand upon the biogeography of biological soil crusts (BSCs) and provide molecular insights into the microbial community and biochemical dynamics along the vertical BSC column structure, and across a transect of increasing BSC surface coverage in the central Mojave Desert, CA, United States. Next generation sequencing reveals a bacterial community profile that is distinct among BSCs in the southwestern United States. Distribution of major phyla in the BSC topsoils included Cyanobacteria (33 ± 8%), Proteobacteria (26 ± 6%), and Chloroflexi (12 ± 4%), with Phormidium being the numerically dominant genus. Furthermore, BSC subsurfaces contained Proteobacteria (23 ± 5%), Actinobacteria (20 ± 5%), and Chloroflexi (18 ± 3%), with an unidentified genus from Chloroflexi (AKIW781, order) being numerically dominant. Across the transect, changes in distribution at the phylum ( p < 0.0439) and genus ( p < 0.006) levels, including multiple biochemical and geochemical trends ( p < 0.05), positively correlated with increasing BSC surface coverage. This included increases in (a) Chloroflexi abundance, (b) abundance and diversity of Cyanobacteria, (b) OTU-level diversity in the topsoil, (c) OTU-level differentiation between the topsoil and subsurface, (d) intracellular ATP abundances and catalase activities, and (e) enrichments in clay, silt, and varying elements, including S, Mn, Co, As, and Pb, in the BSC topsoils. In sum, these studies suggest that BSCs from regions of differing surface coverage represent early successional stages, which exhibit increasing bacterial diversity, metabolic activities, and capacity to restructure the soil. Further, these trends suggest that BSC successional maturation and colonization across the transect are inhibited by metals/metalloids such as B, Ca, Ti, Mn, Co, Ni, Mo, and Pb.