Presenter:
Shaaron Leverment, Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC)
shaaron.leverment@sciencecentres.org.uk
Lewis Hou, Science Ceilidh
Theme: Working with audiences underrepresented in the Physical sciences
Reporter: Lorraine Coghill
One sentence summary: A thought-provoking discussion exploring a framework aiming to give a shared language to articulate, measure and advocate for inclusive impact beyond numbers and diversity metrics.
Description
There are pivotal ‘aha’ moments when something forces you to stop and reconsider things afresh. That was the result of a piece of advice given to Shaaron during the development of this work: “This is too fluffy. You have to make this count for the people who don’t care about people.” It may sound stark and reductive, but it acutely expresses a pivotal challenge of inclusive engagement in articulating and proving a worth that speaks to people beyond the sector, and to a rationale that highlights inclusive education and engagement as an economic imperative.
Shaaron and Lewis began the session by asking us what outcomes are most important to us in public engagement. Perhaps unsurprisingly for the Interact community, words like joy, confidence, empowerment and inclusion resulted. This closely aligned to youth workers’ responses, with confidence and fun, as well as wellbeing and skills given as key desirable outcomes. We considered how these more holistic, social outcomes contrast with the more transactional, impersonal metrics (often related to the wider STEM economy) that are common funding requirements. And then whose voices, opinions and priorities are regularly missed from these conversations? Further, research for ASDC by Laura Thomas exposed three key challenges:
- A lack of consistency in EDI evaluation
- Short term funding and unrealistic expectations
- The bottom line… Numbers!
A collaboration led by ASDC have taken up the challenge of reconciling these disconnects to look for the overlaps and opportunities, aiming to develop a common language that speaks to and resonates with different people with different perspectives.
During the session, we explored the contribution of inclusive engagement projects to this work. This included Curiosity In Action’s action research approach to building relationships, understanding and connectivity between youth workers, scientists-in-residence and young people. Hearing directly from the young people (by video) added a poignant and weighty reminder that their voices were often missing from these discussions.
We heard how evaluation activities within projects such as ASDC’s Explore your universe, has enabled the development of a framework for inclusion outcomes. Evaluator Sophie Bartlett outlined key areas:
- Relevance
- Agency / Ownership
- Possible selves (broadening horizons)
- Social connection
- Belonging
- Developing skills
- Connection to opportunities
The team have created a Theory of change (ToC) for inclusive engagement. Mapping directly to ASPIRES, the ToC articulates how first experiences can ignite curiosity, which then lead to inclusive participant outcomes that build confidence and STEM identity (the seven areas identified above). That with sustained experiences that enable independent action, longer term outcomes such as lifelong learning, qualifications, careers and engaged citizenship can result.
The team is keen to point out that this won’t save the world, but it does provide a framework and common language that speaks to the different people we need to reach. As the funder of this work STFC is ensuring touchpoints between this work and its own refreshed evaluation framework. It will contribute to giving us an evidence base from which we can make a stronger case for engagement, helping to advocate for prioritising impactful outcomes in future funding, strategic planning, and ultimately sustaining a future for more equitable science engagement.
Key messages
- We are not just “nice to have” – we must illustrate the impact of engagement programmes with reasons and language that speaks to and resonates with different people with different perspectives.
- The Theory of Change presented here gives a framework for articulating and defining inclusive outcomes which can help guide, support and evidence meaningful, values-led, inclusive engagement practice.
Resources
Valuing Inclusion Theory of Change: : https://inclusion.sciencecentres.org.uk/
Evaluation report: https://www.sciencecentres.org.uk/documents/772/Evaluation_Report_Explore_Your_Universe_Valuing_Inclusion_2024_V4EyOAj.pdf
Links:
ASDC: https://www.sciencecentres.org.uk/
Science Ceilidh: https://www.scienceceilidh.com/
Curiosity in Action: everyone is welcome to join our network https://www.scienceceilidh.com/curiosityinaction
STFC’s Wonder Initiative: https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/public-engagement/public-engagement-stfc/our-support-for-public-engagement-stfc/public-engagement-wonder-initiative/
ASPIRES research: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-and-centres/departments/education-practice-and-society/research/aspires-research
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