Black woman scientist looking into microscope with another woman scientist in the foreground and a male scientist in the background.

Feminist pedagogies inform inclusive STEM teaching

Best Practices, Teaching, Tips

Traditional STEM teaching has a persistent predicament of exclusion and inequity. The 2023 Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities report from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) revealed that the U.S. STEM workforce became more diverse from 2011 to 2021. However, despite increased representation, women, persons with disabilities, and historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups remain underrepresented in the STEM workforce. 

What does feminist pedagogy look like in STEM?

Instructional practices informed by feminist pedagogies can help address disparities in STEM disciplines. By challenging the dominance of White males in STEM, these practices actively work against gender and racial inequality in STEM education.

Methods involve inclusive teaching practices, such as reducing the professor’s authority. For example, instead of naming your research laboratory after the Principal Investigator, consider using a name that reflects the whole group’s research interests, like “Natural Products Lab” instead of “Dr. John Smith’s Lab.” This approach promotes gender and racial neutrality and encourages shared pride, accountability, and positive interdependence.

Three women in science lab conducting experiment

Other fundamental principles of feminist pedagogies include empowering students to take ownership of their learning, fostering community, and promoting social justice education and activism in STEM. Consider allocating time in the first class for team-building activities and providing scaffolding group assignments. Encourage students to recognize how gender, cultural backgrounds, socio-economic status, and life experiences may impact their group members’ performance. Prioritize equity in STEM education by creating assessments that enable students to incorporate their own experiences and interests into the classroom while also supporting them in improving their scientific communication skills.

Feminist pedagogies demonstrate that when we recognize that knowledge is socially produced and view teaching and learning as a more complex and social process involving interaction, collaboration, and negotiation, we create a more inclusive and equitable teaching and learning environment for all.

How can feminist pedagogies increase STEM inclusivity?

Instructional practices informed by feminist pedagogies can help address disparities in representation. Feminist pedagogies recognize that knowledge is socially produced and view teaching and learning as a complex, social process involving interaction, collaboration, and negotiation.

The following are some ways feminist pedagogies can inform inclusive STEM teaching:

  • Transform the relationship between professor and students: Disrupt traditional power structures in the classroom by reducing emphasis on the professor’s authority and elevating students’ experiences and viewpoints. 
  • Chinese woman scientist fills test tube in a labEmpowerment: Empower students by encouraging democratic processes in the classroom, sharing power, and providing opportunities for student self-reflection, voicing opinions, and taking ownership of their educational journey. 
  • Building community: Promote collaborative and interactive learning, nurture a sense of community and shared responsibility for learning, and break down the traditional hierarchy between professors and students.  
  • Privileging marginalized voices: Integrate marginalized groups’—including women, racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those with disabilities—narratives and viewpoints into curriculum, course materials, and classroom discussions. 
  • Respect diverse experiences: Incorporate content, examples, and approaches that reflect the diversity of the student population, including cultural, racial, gender, socioeconomic, and neurodiverse. 
  • Challenge traditional views: Actively challenge and disrupt dominant narratives and knowledge systems by critically examining and questioning assumptions, biases, and power structures in the curriculum and academic discourses. 

Final thoughts

A diverse workforce fosters innovation by leveraging different backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints, contributing to a robust STEM enterprise. We have made progress, yet the complexity and nuances of inclusive STEM education and employment remain a twenty-first-century challenge.  

As the US and world populations become increasingly diverse, so does NIU’s student body. Incorporating inclusivity in STEM education is no longer optional; it is a necessity. We acknowledge the obstacles STEM faculty may face in implementing inclusive teaching practices, but we are here to support you. Together, we can foster inclusivity while achieving academic excellence in STEM courses. 

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