Learning Sciences Lunch and Learn with Stefanie Marshall, Ph.D. “The Role of Policy and Politics in STEM Education: Considerations and Future Directions”

Policy and politics matter in STEM education. Drawing on Dr. Marshall’s research, this talk will engage themes across multiple studies that illuminate how educators and STEM leaders navigate the politics and policies to advance equitable STEM education. By centering community-rooted leadership, networked decision-making, and critical equity perspectives, this talk highlights both the limits of current policies and future directions toward intentionally designing inclusive, transformative STEM systems.

Suggested readings available here and here!

Bio: 

Stefanie Marshall (she/ her/ hers) (Michigan State University) is an associate professor of science education at Michigan State University. She situates her work at the intersection of educational policy, leadership, and science education, focusing on the systemic and organizational needs for science education. Her research engages organizational and system-level questions on how policies and decisions about science and STEM education impact marginalized youth’s science and STEM experiences. Marshall is the Director of the MiSTEM Playbook Grant Programming, funded by the State of Michigan and General Motors, and serves as the Principal Investigator of the Google Computer Science Education Research grant for a research project entitled Do Computer Science Heroes Wear CAPEs? An Analysis of State Policy Infrastructures Designed to Support Equity-Focused Computer Science Education. She is a member of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, the American Educational Research Association, and the University Council for Educational Administration. She earned her B.S. in biology from Oakland University, her M.A. in educational studies from the University of Michigan, and her Ph.D. in educational policy from Michigan State University.