The Relationship between Instructor Beliefs and Practices about Inclusive Teachin

Inclusive teaching pedagogies have been shown to enhance the success and retention of women and racial minorities, thereby promoting diversity in STEM fields. However, many STEM instructors do not fully implement these practices. The Inclusive STEM Teaching Project is a six-week online professional development course designed to strengthen instructors’ beliefs and practices related to inclusive teaching. To explore barriers to implementation, we conducted qualitative phenomenological interviews with 17 STEM instructors who completed the course. Our analysis examines the relationship between their beliefs about inclusive teaching and their actual classroom practices. In this talk, we will present the range of instructors’ beliefs and the reasons they cite for discrepancies between their beliefs and practices. These findings offer insights into improving professional development programs and addressing structural and cultural barriers to inclusive STEM instruction.