What Would it Take to Decolonise STEM?

Li, R. and Mair, C. (2024) What Would it Take to Decolonise STEM? 17th Annual University of Glasgow Learning & Teaching Conference, Glasgow, UK, 09 April 2024.

Abstract

The University’s Learning and Teaching strategy asks us to reflect on our values of inclusivity, wellbeing, integrity and respect in our learning and curriculum design through initiatives including decolonising the curriculum. Decolonising the curriculum is at the forefront of conversations within higher education to understand how colonialism shaped curricula, however, conversations within science based disciplines are divided. Within the School of Mathematics and Statistics, we aimed to understand staff and student perspectives on equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives and decolonisation. Impactful change needs a collective approach. In addition to the student voice, academics need to reflect on curricula and their teaching practices. Here, we will detail the results of a staff survey. A total of 56 staff members (62% response rate) responded to an anonymous survey that comprised 22 Likert scale questions and open questions; In the context of higher education, how would you describe, inclusion, diversity, and equality? What pedagogical approaches have you used to encourage students from underrepresented backgrounds to participate in class, if at all? When asked if they would describe their current curriculum and assessment as inclusive, 31% and 50% agreed respectively. When asked if they believe that students should learn and apply mathematics and statistics in various contexts, 62% agreed, and 74% of respondents agreed that students should learn about mathematicians and statisticians from various cultures and ethnicities. 9% of respondents agreed that they teach students about mathematicians or statisticians more than half of the time and only 3% agreed that they teach about mathematicians or statisticians from non-western backgrounds. 9% currently teach mathematics or statistics from a non-western context (case studies, real-world problems or applications) about half the time with the remaining responding 'sometimes' or 'never'. The most divisive questions asked if staff believe the curricula within the school would benefit from decolonisation, 35% agreed, 26% neither agreed nor disagreed and 38% disagreed and if staff would be interested in teaching students more history, 47% agreed, 18% neither agreed nor disagreed and 35% disagreed. When describing inclusion and equality, opportunity emerged quite predominantly. It was clear staff wanted to support students to be successful with an understanding that students have different needs. Respecting “Plurality of thought and opinion” neatly summarises descriptions of diversity. When asked about pedagogical approaches, responses centred around efforts to ensure they engage with students, from anonymous in-class polls to small group tutorials and individual tutoring. A range of views on representation and decolonising the curriculum were described, from providing diverse role models in lecturers and tutors, occasionally highlighting contributions from backgrounds other than white males to “students are students”. Some staff indicated that they use examples “set in the student life one might expect the entire cohort to experience” whereas others indicated that they were “very conscious of the fact that not everyone will come into the course with the same background knowledge or understanding”. So while staff want to support students through equality of opportunity and engagement, an enthusiasm for representation, disciplinary history and transforming curricula is unclear.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mair, Dr Colette and Li, Miss Ruohan
• Authors: Li, R., and Mair, C.
• Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2361 Curriculum
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics

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