Beyond Diversity: Reimagining the Work of Inclusive STEM

Mary A. Armstrong
Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Lafayette College

ABSTRACT:  Everybody knows that diversity matters: it opens opportunities for all, improves teams and outcomes, and serves our highest values. And everybody knows that diversity (however it is defined) is difficult to achieve. If good intentions got good results, inclusivity issues would be a thing of the past. But instead, we often feel “stuck” and/or frustrated with well-meaning but less-than-effective efforts. In this talk, Mary Armstrong shares a three-part schema for thinking about diversity in STEM fields that offers a precise and sophisticated model of “inclusivity work.” This model clarifies differences across types of inclusivity approaches, analyzing the distinguishing characteristics of kinds of diversity work, and examining the strengths and weaknesses of each type. Armstrong concludes with a discussion of how we can recalibrate our thinking around STEM diversity so as to approach inclusivity in new and potentially more effective ways.

BIO:  Mary A. Armstrong is Charles A. Dana Professor of Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies and English at Lafayette College, where she also chairs the Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. She earned her Ph.D. in English and Graduate Certification in Women's Studies from Duke University. Her research interests include equity and inclusivity in STEM fields, strategies for institutional transformation in higher education, and inclusive pedagogies. She has been PI on two National Science Foundation ADVANCE grants focused on strategies for institutional change to support underrepresented women in STEM, and she is Director of the Lafayette College Queer Archives Project.