EAGER: Elevating and empowering Hispanic/Latinx voices through video: Reducing barriers in academia and building an ecosystem for success in the Earth system sciences

This NSF GOLD-EN EAGER project aims to create a culture of belonging, equity, access, diversity and inclusion in the Earth system sciences by building a network of support for minoritized groups that spans from their families to the university community to professional societies. As our society is tasked to work on increasingly complex and urgent Earth system challenges, geoscience and related fields are as important as ever.

Yet, the geosciences are one of the least diverse STEM fields and there has been little improvement over the last 40-years. Furthermore, the geoscience careers are less visible in some communities compared to other STEM professions, resulting in careers in the geosciences being not well known or not perceived as viable careers. To solve current socio-environmental issues, marginalized voices must be brought in and elevated in equitable and culturally appropriate ways.

This is particularly true for the Hispanic/Latinx community, the fastest growing minoritized group in the United States. This project will work with Hispanic/Latinx students and scientists in the Earth system sciences to develop a foundation for engaging their families, strengthen a network for Hispanic/Latinx students and scientists in Earth system sciences, and build a sustainable network of academic institution leaders to co-create an inclusive environment for Hispanic/Latinx students, scientists, and families.

This project will foster a framework that will be expanded in the future for culturally appropriate engagement of other underrepresented communities and their families in the geosciences.

Three techniques will be employed to elevate the voices of Hispanic/Latinx communities, to increase the knowledge of careers in the geosciences, and to empower conversations between the Latinx/Hispanic community and the university system: 1) storytelling through film to strengthen and build upon existing culturally relevant science communication and storytelling skills of Hispanic/Latinx participants; 2) highlighting the experiences of Hispanic/Latinx students, scientists, and their respective families to increase knowledge of geoscience career opportunities; and 3) conversations between Hispanic/Latinx participants with university community leaders to elevate the understanding of challenges faced by Hispanic/Latinx students and scientists as they pursue geoscience careers. Through the use of narrative storytelling and listening sessions, the project goals are: 1) to build an ecosystem for Hispanic/Latinx students to pursue geoscience careers with the support of their families, 2) to feel a sense of inclusion of Hispanic/Latinx people in academia in their pursuit of geoscience education and careers, 3) and increase retention through a sense of belonging in these fields with the support of the university community leaders.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.