Resources to Support Black Students in STEM Education
Black in Computing is a coalition of Black scientists, technologists, and engineers, including Quincy K. Brown, Ph.D., co-founder of blackcomputeHER.org and former lecturer in the cybersecurity@berkeley program. The group is advocating for the computing community to address systemic and structural inequities in the industry. In the June 2020 open letter from Black in Computing, the authors recount harassment, exclusion, and the development of algorithms that further racism.
The organization’s call to action comprises six categories, one of which is “Support Students.” This prong has five actionable items for schools, educators, and policymakers to focus on:
1
Safety: Ensure Black students are not accosted by faculty, fellow students, or campus police while accessing campus spaces.
2
Funding: Fund Black students to conduct research and engage in research activities.
3
Internships: Ensure Black students are equally successful in obtaining industry internships.
4
Microaggressions: Ensure Black students do not face the microaggressions and mentally abusive culture of having to defend their places in an institution from uninformed peers.
5
Admissions: Ensure legacy admits do not take seats away from deserving Black students and other people of color.
To supplement Black in Computing’s resources and support the proposed action items, datascience@berkeley collected the following resources, articles, and guides.
Articles and Research
4 Actions Colleges Can Take to Address Police Brutality, Center for American Progress: advice for universities to leverage existing security contracts and manage campus police departments to introduce immediate reform.
Black Students Take on More Debt and Get Fewer Slots on Grants, Data Show, Science.org: data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) on U.S. graduate student debt and racial disparities in training.
Math Literacy Research, We The People National Alliance: collection of research on the intersection of math literacy and critical race theory.
The School-to-Prison Pipeline, Learning for Justice: explanation of how school disciplinary policies push students into the criminal justice system and disproportionately affect Black children.
The Second ID: Critical Race Counterstories of Campus Police Interactions With Black Men at Historically White Institutions, Race Ethnicity and Education: study reporting on encounters between three Black male students and campus police officers at historically white institutions.
Women of Color Face Staggering Harassment in Space Science, The Washington Post: article about discrimination and harassment against women of color who work in astronomy and planetary science.
Videos and Podcasts
BE The Code podcast, Apple Podcasts: spotlights influential Black professionals in technology and how they are reshaping the industry.
The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, TED: the story of how novelist Adichie found her authentic cultural voice.
Learn to Spot — and Stop — Racial Microaggressions in Schools by Cheyenne Batista: Digital Equity Lightning Talk at ISTE20 explaining the prevalence of racial microaggressions.
Curriculum Tools
Mathematical Modeling With Cultural and Community Contexts: project-based and teacher-generated mathematical modeling tasks, lesson plans, and student work.
Social Justice Math, Frances Harper: math lesson plans that focus on social justice problems and diverge from biased curriculum and problem sets.
Teach About Inequality With These 28 New York Times Graphs, The New York Times: set of data visualizations explaining inequality to help students use math and analysis skills to think critically about American society.
The Underrepresentation Curriculum Project: flexible curriculum designed to help students critically examine scientific fields and take action for equity, inclusion, and justice.
Guides and Resource Lists
100Kin10 Anti-Racism Resource List, 100Kin10: list of anti-racism resources and readings for K-12 educators.
Addressing Race-Based Hate Speech and Microaggressive Behavior in Schools, American Psychological Association: information designed to help teachers respond to students who may need support.
Anti-Racism Resources and Articles for STEM Educators (PDF, 582 KB), Dr. Kathy Chen, STEM Education Center at WPI: collection of curriculum-focused articles and guides for STEM teachers.
Best Practices for Diversity and Inclusion in STEM Education and Research: A Guide by and for Federal Agencies (PDF, 3 MB), WhiteHouse.gov: advice for coordinating activities regarding inclusion in STEM fields across the federal government.
Diversity in STEM Education Collection, National Science Teaching Association: curriculum ideas tailored to diversity and interventions for increasing diversity in STEM.
Living While Black on Campus: A Roadmap for Student Activism, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): tactics and strategies for colleges to consider to help Black students.
Social Justice Mathematics and Science Curricular Resources for K-12 Teachers, Dr. Kari Kokka: list of resources for anti-racism mathematics and science curricula.
Organizations
BlackComputerHER: research, programs, and events to support the growing community of Black women and girls in computing and tech.
Black Girls Code: organization offering programs, events, and chapters to support young Black girls in computing.
Black Girls Movement: offers online and in-person STEM curriculum for all grade levels.
ColorStack: tech nonprofit focused on delivering community building, academic support, and career development opportunities to Black and Latinx computer science students.
Racial Justice in Early Mathematics, Erikson Institute: call to action for the field of early mathematics education to name and dismantle white supremacy and anti-Blackness.
Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK) Program, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE): free three-week summer program that offers a fun and engaging educational experience for students in grades 3 through 5.
Funding and Internships
Grants.gov: database of federal funding opportunities to support research.
Intramural NIAID Research Opportunities (INRO), National Institutes of Health (NIH): sponsors postbaccalaureate research trainees from U.S. populations underrepresented in the biomedical sciences and those dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion.
STEM Programs for Underrepresented Minority Students, Pathways to Science: search database for funding and research opportunities created exclusively to support underrepresented minority students.
Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF): three types of unique merit- and need-based scholarships that are designed to address the financial needs of students attending a TMCF member-school.
Resources at UC Berkeley
Anti-Racism Initiatives, UC Berkeley Graduate Division: set of initiatives, focused on areas within our purview, that would begin to address Black students’ needs.
Diversity and Inclusion Resources, UC Berkeley School of Information: list of resources available for current UC Berkeley students who are members of underrepresented communities.
Graduate Diversity Pilot Program, UC Berkeley: provides funding to UC Berkeley departments to address issues of bias, foster healthy and respectful departmental climates, and advance equity, inclusion, and diversity.
The Office for Graduate Diversity (OGD): provides support services specifically focused on the needs of underrepresented graduate students.
Created by datascience@berkeley, the online Master of Information and Data Science from UC Berkeley.