RISE Center webinar series: Reflecting on a Decade of Investigations of Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES)

What is known about the phenomenon of colleges and universities embedding education-focused science faculty into science departments? What types of professional training do these faculty have and what types of science education activities do they pursue? Additionally, how are they perceived by administrators and departmental peers? Further, how do these faculty conceptualize their own professional identities – as “Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES),” as “Discipline-based Education Researchers (DBER),” or both? And how has the phenomenon of integrating science education expertise into science departments changed over time?

In this interactive session, we will explore results that address these questions from a long-term research effort that spans almost two decades (2006-2024). Findings will be drawn from recent studies that used a range of methodological approaches spanning quantitative analyses of large-scale faculty surveys to qualitative analyses of administrator interviews. Additionally, we will highlight how the changing roles and identities of education-focused science faculty have varied across institution types and been characterized by perseverance, adaptation, and differentiation. Finally, we’ll consider how issues of power and disciplinary bias may shape the professional activities and identities of education-focused science faculty in science departments across the US.

In partnership with the School of Life Sciences (SOLS).