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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]

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]