High-Impact Practices to Support Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in STEM

When you think of a scientist, who comes to mind? If it’s Albert Einstein or Charles Darwin, you’re not alone. Gender stereotypes and a lack of inclusive role models in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) have contributed to spaces that have not always been welcoming for African American, Indigenous, and Latino students or those from other historically underserved groups (American Association of University Women, n.d.). Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality, a term she coined in 1989, provides a framework for understanding Black women’s lived and overlapping experiences of racism and sexism (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, n.d.; TED, 2016). Crenshaw, a law professor and Black feminist scholar, explains that “intersectionality is a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects” (Columbia Law School, 2017).

Today, the lens has been applied more widely to students who experience more than one oppression—including ableism, classism, racism, and sexism—based on their social identities (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, n.d.). Such experiences can create barriers for diverse students, influencing how they navigate the academic environment, access resources, and engage with course material. For instance, a low-income student might struggle with the financial burden of expensive textbooks, while a woman of color in a STEM field might face both racial and gender biases that affect her academic experience (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, n.d.). When students have intersecting social identities, it’s important for instructors to understand how power structures and policies can promote or impede their persistence in higher education.

In the 1980s, educational institutions began investing in recruiting diverse student populations, including more women and first-generation college students (Smart, 2020). Despite these efforts, gaps in STEM representation persist. For example, women hold only 25% of computer jobs and 15% of engineering jobs (Lutkevich, 2022). As a result, questions have emerged about the kinds of approaches or strategies that can be used to address this issue effectively. High-impact practices (HIPs) provide one such way for instructors to help close equity gaps. HIPs constitute an evidence-based approach that has resulted in improved retention rates, deep learning, and greater academic achievement for students from underserved backgrounds. Finley and McNair (2013) note that “when first-generation students participated in three or four high-impact practices, their levels of engagement in deep learning approaches and their perceived gains were, on average, 24 percent higher than those of first-generation students who did not participate in a high-impact experience” (p. 11). HIPs range from expanded research opportunities to ePortfolios, and their transformative potential is directly linked to increasing students’ engagement with their college experience (Teaching and Learning Resource Center, n.d.).

What else makes a HIP truly high impact? Kuh and O’Donnell (2013) identified eight elements to consider when integrating any HIP into a new or existing course. These elements include sustained collaboration with faculty and peers, experiences with diversity, frequent and constructive feedback, and deeper learning and self-awareness (Haskins & von Kretschmann, 2021; Teaching and Learning Resource Center, n.d.). By incorporating these elements, instructors can make their courses more inclusive for a wide range of learners. To design effective HIPs, instructors must engage in an honest assessment of their teaching approach, reimagine their courses from the student’s perspective, and create opportunities for dialogue and reflection (Gu et al., 2020).

Get started by incorporating these high-impact practices into your STEM courses.

First-year seminars can promote the development of critical inquiry, writing, information literacy, and collaborative learning skills in a low-stakes environment. They also provide opportunities for marginalized students to develop strong relationships with instructors and mentors (American Association of Colleges and Universities, n.d.). These experiences help foster a sense of belonging and community, helping to bridge gaps in preparation and confidence.

This practice allows students to collect their work electronically over a sustained period of time so they can make essential connections between diverse educational experiences. Artifacts can be shared with professors, advisors, and potential employers but also give students a chance to reflect more deeply on their personal and academic growth (American Association of Colleges and Universities, n.d.).

Whether you’re teaching a career discovery, engineering, or computer science course, you can provide structured opportunities for students to reflect on their chosen major and their values and interests, as well as integrate their learning throughout the course. This reflective process can help identify skill gaps, new interests, and ways to extend learning beyond the classroom through capstone projects, internships, and service learning (Gu et al., 2020).

Without high-quality assessment and consistent feedback, an educational practice cannot be considered a HIP. Feedback should assess a learner’s performance tied to specific learning outcomes and build in opportunities for students to improve over time. Use online tools or rubrics to provide timely feedback, citing specific examples of excellence and annotating areas for improvement (Teaching and Learning Resource Center, n.d.).

If texts in a STEM course don’t include the contributions of women, for example, consider adding readings that cover the achievements of important female figures. When underrepresented students see themselves reflected in the curriculum, this can lead to increased belonging and academic success (Arif & Massey, 2022).

American Association of Colleges and Universities. (n.d.). High-impact practices.

American Association of University Women. (n.d.). The STEM gap: Women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Arif, S., & Massey, M. D. (2022). Perspectives on teaching from early-career scientists. Journal of College Science Teaching, 51(4), 1–9.

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Recognizing identity and intersectionality in the classroom. University of Connecticut.

Columbia Law School. (2017, June 8). Kimberlé Crenshaw on intersectionality, more than two decades later.

Finley, A., & McNair, T. (2013). Assessing underserved students’ engagement in high-impact practices. American Association of Colleges and Universities.
 
Gu, H., Artan, N. S., Dong, Z., Amineh, R., Cao, H., & McPherson, S. (2020, June 22–26). Course redesign – embedding high impact practices (HIPS) in STEM courses [Paper presentation]. 2020 ASEE Virtual Conference.

Haskins, M., & von Kretschmann, P. (2021, April 5). High-impact practices in STEM part I: Collaborative assignments. Office of Teaching and Learning, University of Denver.

Kuh, G. D., & O’Donnell, K. (2013). Ensuring quality and taking high-impact practices to scale. American Association of Colleges and Universities.

Lutkevich, B. (2022, October 24). 6 reasons why diversity in STEM is important. Tech Target.

Smart, A. (2020, September 11). After years of gains, Black STEM representation is falling. Why? Undark.

Teaching and Learning Resource Center. (n.d.). High-impact practices: Enhancing the student experience. The Ohio State University.

TED. (2016, December 7). The urgency of intersectionality | Kimberlé Crenshaw [Video]. YouTube.