Cultivating inclusivity in introductory undergraduate STEM course syllabi: Mismatching between student needs and faculty practices

The timing, use, and versatility of course syllabi allow instructors to set the tone of a course with (or without) an eye towards inclusivity. As we strive to attract and retain students with diverse backgrounds, syllabi can be a key way to make courses more welcoming and inclusive. We report a study about inclusive practices in introductory undergraduate course syllabi at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a private four-year STEM institution in Massachusetts. We consider Identity Safety Cues (ISCs) as a measure of inclusivity and evaluate whether syllabi: (a) list instructors' pronouns, (b) utilize readings and materials authored by women and gender minority scholars, and (c) contain inclusivity statements. We compare perspectives on these three aspects from two data sets: 163 syllabi analyzed based on a well-defined rubric, and results from an anonymous undergraduate student survey. The two complementary datasets provide a way to investigate links between student and faculty perceptions of syllabi use and desired content. We find sharp differences between students' expectations and actual syllabi content for all three ISCs of interest, with students wanting inclusive practices at the forefront of course development regardless of subject, and faculty lagging behind. We also find that instructors' gender, title, and field strongly influence the inclusivity of their syllabi. We provide suggestions on how to incorporate inclusive practices in syllabi design and propose further questions to explore.