Hannah Hua, Sanjana Vadrevu, & Vrinda Khulla

Building Racial Noticing in STEM: Lessons from the ACCESS Fellowship

The ACCESS fellowship is a year-long opportunity for undergraduate learning assistants (ULA) to learn about systemic barriers students may face. The researchers use autoethnographic research to identify how race and ethnicity has contributed to a student’s experience in STEM education. Racial noticing lenses like abstract liberalism, minimization, naturalism, and cultural racism can easily go unnoticed (Bennett, Dudo, Besley, and Irizarry, 2024). By applying the racial-noticing lens, the study highlights how these explanations downplay the role of race, ultimately masking the structural and systemic biases that contribute to inequities in STEM. The researchers investigated “How can undergraduate learning assistants (ULAs) apply racial noticing lenses to recognize and address systemic barriers in STEM education?” An interview was conducted on the ULAs (n=3) before starting the fellowship. Throughout the fellowship, the ULAs reflect on their teaching experiences by engaging in group discussions. After the fellowship, the ULA reviewed their initial interview and identified examples of how they engaged in color-evasive frames. If educators take the time to reflect and challenge preconceived notions, they can create a more inclusive education environment. By using racial noticing lens within STEM education, it can empower educators to actively devised solutions to advance social justice.