Tempered critical leadership in STEM broadening participation programs
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This study explored the leadership experiences of Underrepresented and Minoritized (URM) women serving as Principal Investigators (PIs) in NSF-funded STEM Broadening Participation (BP) programs through the Tempered Critical Leadership (TCL) Framework. By centering their lived experiences, this research contributed to scholarship on leadership in higher education, STEM equity, and strength-based frameworks. It examined how these leaders navigated institutional challenges while leveraging cultural capital to foster systemic change using Critical Narrative Inquiry. Through in-depth qualitative interviews, this study explored the nuanced ways in which URM women enacted leadership by leveraging various forms of Community Cultural Wealth--including aspirational, navigational, resistance, familial, social, and linguistic capital--to initiate subtle, incremental change. Findings also identified underexplored barriers that hindered URM women leading STEM BP programs' success, including the neoliberal devaluation of equity work, inequitable grant distribution, and the impact of crises like COVID-19. The study offers critical policy and practice recommendations, such as valuing BP programs in tenure and promotion, adopting asset-based leadership models, institutionalizing pathways for URM women in STEM leadership, and developing cross-institutional mentoring networks.
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