The goal of the project
is to introduce a new approach to engaging the target population
in efforts to reduce gender bias in STEM classrooms and programs.
To achieve this goal,
the objectives of the project are to:
- develop a CD-ROM set
that engages STEM educators interactively with:
(a) evidence that gender bias operates in the larger culture and
thus in STEM classrooms,
(b) research-based interventions that reduce gender bias in STEM
classrooms, and
(c) department-wide interventions designed to increase the presence
and persistence of women in STEM disciplines.
- evaluate the impact
of the CD-ROM set on the target audience.
- disseminate the CD-ROM
set to teacher education programs, relevant professional associations,
and educational service district networks.
The intended
outcome is that the number of STEM teachers and faculty members
who aware of andactively working to reduce bias in their classrooms
and programs increase. Those pre-service teachers, in-service teachers
and college faculty who complete a professional development program
using the CD-ROM set will be able to:
- describe the ways in which unconscious gender schema affect
educators’ perceptions, evaluations, and behavior of male
and female students
- link these schema
to classroom environments.
- describe and implement
classroom practices designed to reduce gender bias
- if relevant, participate
in department-wide initiatives to increase both the presence and
persistence of women in STEM fields.
What this
project seeks to accomplish is that significantly more STEM teachers
and faculty become part of the effort to increase awareness and
develop gender-neutral materials that can be integrated into the
curriculum.
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