ISEED leads a large slate of initiatives aimed at increasing all persons’ access, engagement, and success within STEMM pathways, especially for underrepresented groups. Our initiatives take a systems approach to transform the STEMM Ecosystem to support high-quality talent development and workforce representation in all STEMM fields. Our programs are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, because without these bedrock values, we believe excellence is impossible.
While many of our initiatives span elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational environments, our work extends to other organizations that shape STEMM – including professional societies, federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and national partners. Together, our initiatives seek to increase the capacity of both individuals and organizations to mutually reinforce transformation to advance science and serve society. Individual capacity building involves the cultivation of a person’s skills, abilities, and mindsets to engage in the scientific enterprise. Organizational capacity involves the ability for leaders to critically assess policies, structures, and practices to understand their impact and adapt or evolve their organizations to ensure inclusivity and equity. Each approach is critical to support engagement and collaboration with diverse groups in STEMM.
Many organizations and institutions use terms like “underrepresented groups” (URG), “underrepresented minorities” (URM), or “broadening participation” to describe efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion. For ISEED, these terms include representations of race, ethnicity, gender identity and gender expression, persons with disabilities, neurodiverse persons, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The true richness of our society comes from the representation of these identities and their valuable intersections.
