Name
Moving from Expert-Driven to Community-Engaged Models of Community Partnerships in the STEM Fields
Date & Time
Monday, March 30, 2020, 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Speakers
Matthew Alvarado-Ross - STEM Education Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Katie Elmes - STEM Education Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Katie Elmes - STEM Education Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Description
This session examines how STEM institutions can collaborate with community partners to establish a STEM learning ecosystem, with all partners sharing a commitment to the accessibility of STEM for all youth and families. The session will also demonstrate how a university can leverage the capacity-building work of an AmeriCorps VISTA to move towards this ecosystem goal. By positioning higher education as a partner in this work, it is possible to move from deficit/“power for” rhetoric to asset/“power with” rhetoric and break the narrative that community engagement in STEM is primarily about helping people rather than engaging in a shared responsibility for community outcomes. We invite non-STEM institutions to join us in this discussion.
Learning outcomes:
- How STEM institutions can engage community partners as equals rather than experts in order to address inequity as a shared responsibility.
- How to translate equity work into a highly stratified field such as STEM.
- The advantage of work driven by capacity building. - The difference between volunteering/helping/“power for” and collaborating/partnering/“power with”
Session Type
Small breakout