Abstract: This talk examines our typical practices for research on diversity, equity, and inclusion and the researcher’s role in initiating change. As critical scholars generally agree, the system of engineering education contains inequities. If remaining neutral in light of oppression means siding with the oppressor, I see an important role of the engineering education scholar to focus on those inequities and to take a role towards shifting them. On the contrary, I see most broadening participation research as functioning for knowledge generation, say, about the marginalization of historically excluded populations or about the practices that support students, without much conceptualization for how the research products will be utilized to shift the inequities. While useful, we should recognize that knowledge generation alone is inert regarding broadening participation as a shared mission, and to be meaningful broadening participation work should actively engage in change projects. I explore the idea of a simple change model to help us conceptualize how change does or does not result from our research work, through our role and our understanding of the involvement and influence of other key stakeholders. I call for change-oriented broadening participation research as a necessary movement, and suggest adapting existing qualitative and quantitative research approaches to have a more strategic and explicit plan to bring about change. As an example, I showcase an NSF-funded project, Audio for Inclusion, which adapts qualitative research about marginalized student groups to provide accessible and productive feedback for engineering faculty. I will showcase one or more audio narratives from the project and we can brainstorm together the lessons we learn from these student narratives. I will conclude with some principles about how to move towards change-oriented broadening participation research in different areas.

Bio: Dr. Stephen Secules is an Assistant Professor in the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education at Florida International University. Secules holds a joint appointment in the STEM Transformation Institute, a secondary appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. In addition, he leads the Equity Research Group, serves as a faculty fellow for Office to Advance Women Equity and Diversity, and is a 2023 recipient of the FIU Senate Excellence in Teaching Award. He has bachelor degrees in engineering from Dartmouth College, a master’s in Architectural Acoustics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a PhD in Education (Curriculum and Instruction) from the University of Maryland. He has prior work experience in acoustical consulting and was a visiting faculty member at Purdue University. His research has focused on culture and equity in engineering education, particularly undergraduate contexts, pedagogy, and student support. Through his work he aims to use critical qualitative, video-based, participatory, and ethnographic methods to look at everyday educational settings in engineering and shift them towards equity and inclusion.