Access and Accessibility in STEM: An Organizational Route to Tenure Line Faculty Positions

This project intends to support three postdoctoral fellows focused on access and accessibility in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education research, practice, and policy. Because issues of STEM access and accessibility are inherently transdisciplinary, with relevant challenges spanning contexts, disciplines, and populations, this program plans to work with postdoctoral researchers to develop depth and breadth of knowledge in their areas of interest.

Project leadership intends to collaborate with both supervising faculty and the postdoctoral fellows in their engagement in ongoing projects as well as in their independent research. This collaboration is designed to serve as a sustaining partnership extending from postdoctoral training through subsequent careers as tenure-track faculty within the institution.

Postdoctoral research positions are invaluable opportunities for early career researchers to both establish themselves as independent scholars and to benefit from ongoing training. These roles also typically entail precarity, because they are designed to be temporary, may lack clear definitions of work responsibilities, and do not guarantee access to subsequent academic positions.

However, the model of postdoctoral training proposed in this project is intended for early career scholars to transition directly into tenure line positions in the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services (CEHS) at Utah State University, pending adequate performance. The training provided within this model fully immerses the postdoctoral fellows in a highly collaborative and supportive environment rich in opportunities for the development of independent scholarship and for engagement with existing projects of senior colleagues.

The performance criteria that structure the goals of independent scholarship are the need to develop a grant proposal for a new project and to lead on at least two manuscripts in two years. The supports provided include mentorship networks and formal training in methodology, grant writing, and pedagogy. The supports also include funds in each year to cover the research costs of fellows, full access to both the statistics consulting studio and the grant development office which are staffed and fully funded by CEHS, and monthly collaborative cohort meetings.

This project is funded by the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program (STEM Ed PRF) in partnership with the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE: EDU) Program. The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field.

The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.

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.