2022 Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference – Nov 3-5

Posted by American Association of Colleges and Universities on July 26, 2022

Registration is now open for the 2022 Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference, which will be held November 3 – 5 in Arlington, VA.

Within many areas of undergraduate STEM reform, the COVID-19 pandemic has seemingly been declared over, or over enough. And a return to the next, or some new, normal has sparked deep relief. However, for others, the pandemic’s “end” has brought little in the way of relief because the same institutional systems, structures, traditions, and beliefs that privileged some, while disadvantaging others, still exist. The resistance to accept, or even grapple with, this uncomfortable truth has made the need for a different kind of approach to STEM reform that much more urgent.

Doing the work of reform without reflection is like trying to solve a problem without acknowledging its causes. In that context, both are merely activities – ones that don’t teach us transformative lessons or reveal the consequences of our choices and actions. Reforming undergraduate STEM education, especially now, deserves our earnest and deliberate reflection. We must desire to know the truths that speak to our deeper selves, create space in our institutions for these narratives to emerge and take hold, and let new stories of who we were, and who we are, guide our path to reform. Do we have the courage to breakdown and rebuild our beliefs? Do we have the audacity to confront ourselves? Are we bold enough to confront the narratives that tell us we must “restart,” not reform, undergraduate STEM education? Imagine what we could achieve if we collectively refuse to go back to what was already broken.

The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) and its Project Kaleidoscope invite you to join us for the annual Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference as we explore these questions and other complex voids that have been left in the wake of recent pandemic-related, racially motivated, and socioeconomically driven events. This conference will challenge us to see not only voids in our reform thinking, but also the possibilities they hold when we are daring enough to allow new perspectives and new structures to define how we fill them.

Learn more and register.