DCL: NSF INCLUDES – California STEM INCLUDES Conference and Network

The NSF INCLUDES program supports models, networks, partnerships and research to ensure the broadening participation in STEM of women, members of racial and ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented, persons of low socio-economic status, and people with disabilities.

The University of California-Irvine (UCI), in partnership with the University of California-San Diego and the University of California-Davis will convene a state-wide conference on inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) higher education. The California STEM INCLUDES Conference and Network will share best practices for promoting STEM inclusion and provide an infrastructure to further these practices and track the outcomes. The purpose of the conference is to form a backbone for a large regional network in support of the National Science Foundation's Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) initiative.

The five goals of the conference are to:

--increase California educator awareness of demographic gaps in STEM participation and the research on factors influencing such participation gaps;

--engage participants in discussion of promising practices for increasing STEM inclusion

--broaden the impact of existing successful programs for STEM inclusion, through program modification and replication, scale-up, and increased collaboration;

--create a mechanism for sustained discussion, sharing and collaboration around STEM inclusion across California institutions;

--create central repository and common standards for reporting on STEM inclusion and implementation program impact for the state.

Approximately 340 individuals serving a broad cross-section of California's K-12, higher education, public, private and non-profit constituencies will participate in 2 ½ days of intense dialogue on topics such as data and research, successful implementations and sustainable networks for collaboration and sharing. The conference will be held in Spring 2017.