Widening participation and success in STEM: embedding research-engaged practice to measure impact
Journal article
Lawson, Finley, Colley, Stefan, Anthony, Anna, Billingsley, Berry and Harvey, Dana 2024. Widening participation and success in STEM: embedding research-engaged practice to measure impact. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning. 26 (2), pp. 248-261. https://doi.org/10.5456/wpll.26.2.248
Authors | Lawson, Finley, Colley, Stefan, Anthony, Anna, Billingsley, Berry and Harvey, Dana |
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Abstract | There is a systemic shortage in the number of graduates entering the STEM workforce. To address the current graduate shortage (HM Govt, 2017), the widening gap between industry demand, the available skilled workforce (ASE, 2020), and the underrepresentation of key groups within STEM industries and academia requires overhauling the STEM education `pipeline´. However, there is a lack of consensus on how to increase the diversity of students pursuing STEM post-16 and how to tackle the dual challenges of engagement and science capital for the most underrepresented groups. This paper discusses the development of a research-engaged sustained STEM outreach programme working with students from rural and coastal schools in South-East England. Whilst there are numerous STEM programmes that aim to provide academic support, build science capital or improve diversity in post-16 STEM studies, this paper describes how two areas of innovative practice came together in a university-led pre-entry STEM widening participation programme: Inspiring Minds. The first relates to its foundation in a research-engaged pedagogy (the epistemic insight curriculum) that underpinned the programme content and design, and the second to the embedded approach to rigorous evaluation and impact monitoring tracking shifts in both aspirational and attainment measures of participating students. |
Keywords | Epistemic insight; Evaluation; STEM education; Sustained engagement; Widening participation |
Year | 2024 |
Journal | Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning |
Journal citation | 26 (2), pp. 248-261 |
Publisher | The Open University |
ISSN | 1466-6529 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.5456/wpll.26.2.248 |
Official URL | https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/openu/jwpll/2024/00000026/00000002/art00012 |
Funder | Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) |
Office for Students | |
Publication dates | |
Online | 01 Jul 2024 |
29 Jul 2024 | |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 06 Jul 2023 |
Deposited | 14 Aug 2024 |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | Published |
References | Allchin, D. (2013) ‘Problem- and case-based learning in science: an introduction to distinctions, values, and outcomes’, CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12(3), 364–372. Available at https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.12-11-0190 (Accessed: 17 July 2024). |
Additional information | Publications router. |
https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/98q4x/widening-participation-and-success-in-stem-embedding-research-engaged-practice-to-measure-impact
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Publisher's version
PUBLISHED COPY (IM innovative practice).pdf | ||
License: CC BY 4.0 | ||
File access level: Open |
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