Complex networks of community - Transformative partnership praxis for equitable STEM transfer - Data Note 2 - February 2023

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

This data note examines how community-college and university partnerships build transformative STEM transfer practices to expand equitable access for low-income students. Drawing on the first seventeen months of the STEM Transfer Partnership (STP) program, it analyzes networks of communities of practice across academic, administrative, and student-support offices and beyond institutional boundaries. It highlights challenges such as recruitment of low-income students and sustainability, and shows how flexible, multi-layered praxis networks help teams dismantle organizational barriers and support long-term change.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Program Background and Data Sources

Networks within and beyond Partnerships

Expanding Networks at the Institutional Level

COMMUNITY COLLEGE RESEARCH INITIATIVES STEM TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP SERIES Complex networks of community: Transformative partnership praxis for equitable STEM transfer Leandra Cate, Lia Wetzstein, and Katie Kovacich DATA NOTE 2 | FEBRUARY 2023 Within the complex organizational structures of postsecondary institutions, transformative change requires a strategically networked community of dedicated practitioners. This report describes the networks of transformative partnership praxis between two-year and four-year institutions working on improved STEM transfer pathways. Data from the first year of the STEM Transfer Partnership (STP) program indicate that communities of practice committed to transformation draw upon expanded and multi-layered communities, with productive networks that include connections across academic, administrative, and student support offices at the institution and also learning from outside the boundaries of the institutional partners. Key challenges that prompt flexible and expanded connections include low-income student recruitment and strategies for program sustainability. From primary through postsecondary education, there is a gap of opportunity between low-income and more economically privileged students. Low-income students are significantly less likely to attend more selective and highly resourced institutions (Bowen & McPherson, 2016; Astin & Oseguera, 2004) . Students from low-income backgrounds have lower rates of college completion and are less likely to have access to economically rewarding college and career pathways (Mulhern et al., 2015) . The inequitable landscape of opportunity confronts educational institutions with the need for transformative action, to understand the challenges facing low-income students and critically examine the institutional processes that maintain a steep and persistent socioeconomic hierarchy. Building more inclusive STEM pathways is an important part of efforts to expand educational equity. This report shares data from an innovative effort to create systemic change in STEM degree pathways by addressing the STEM transfer process between two-year and four- year institutions. The purpose of the STEM Transfer Partnership (STP) initiative is to create and sustain a community of practice that expands access to STEM degrees for low-income students through improved transfer practices and student engagement (Cate et al., 2022) . Over the course of seventeen months, researchers have gathered data from sixteen colleges and universities working to establish and advance nine partnerships focused on increasing low-income student STEM participation, transfer, and degree completion. One of the important lessons of this data is the role of flexibly structured, multi-layered communities of transformative praxis. The STP teams, composed of faculty, staff, and administrators, have worked together, within institutional pairs as well as across teams, to dismantle obstacles to STEM degrees for low-income students at their institutions. In their work, they have encountered a number of organizational barriers to change. The data presented here show that teams are responding [uw. edu/cc ri](uw. edu/cc ri) 1 STEM TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP SERIES | Complex networks of community: Transformative partnership praxis for equitable STEM transfer to barriers and challenges to systemic change through flexible, responsive, and multilayered networks of praxis. Participant teams are able to broaden the impact of their change efforts, engage, support low-income students, and work toward long-term sustainability of their interventions by working through these networks at multiple levels. PROGRAM BACKGROUND AND DATA SOURCES The STP program is a three year initiative that has established a state-wide consortium of STEM transfer partnerships. The consortium supports nine teams through biannual gatherings, monthly coaching sessions, and funding to support their change efforts in STEM deg

FAQs

What is the STEM Transfer Partnership (STP) initiative aiming to achieve?

The STP initiative aims to create and sustain a community of practice that expands access to STEM degrees for low-income students through improved transfer practices and student engagement.

What data time frame and participating institutions does this report cover?

Researchers gathered data over seventeen months from sixteen colleges and universities working on nine partnerships focused on increasing low-income student STEM participation, transfer, and degree completion.

Which network characteristics does the report identify as important for transformation?

The report emphasizes flexibly structured, multi-layered communities of transformative praxis, including connections across academic, administrative, and student support offices and learning beyond partner institutions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor