Carleton University EDIT-STEM Initiative Earns Over $3.3 Million in Research Support
A Carleton University research initiative addressing the challenges to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has secured more than $3.3 million in funding.
The initiative, called EDIT-STEM, is receiving $1.67 million over five years through a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance Society Grant, along with a Mitacs Accelerate grant of $850,000 (in collaboration with Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics [Perimeter Institute]). Adding to these grants, the initiative receives additional financial support from IVADO, Perimeter Institute and Carleton University, and engages partners across Canada.
- See the partners—each one a change-maker affecting Canadian society:
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- Engineers Canada
- National Research Council of Canada
- IVADO
- Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
- IEEE Canada
- Quebec Interuniversity Network for EDI (Réseau interuniversitaire québécois pour l’équité, la diversité et l’inclusion)
- Canadian Association of Physicists
- Canadian Association for Neuroscience
- Canadian Society for Chemistry
A group of ten interdisciplinary researchers are collaborating on the initiative, including eight from Carleton and two from Dalhousie University. Their collective aim is to develop novel interactive technologies as a transformative approach for addressing the challenges of EDI in STEM. These societal problems affect who engages in STEM and their experiences, how STEM activities happen, their success and the connections between STEM and society.
The team will address these common issues using Persuasive Technology (PT), a subfield of Computer Science that incorporates interactive systems to encourage and support users in meeting specific goals.
The research builds on technological innovations established by the project’s Principal Investigator and co-director, Sonia Chiasson, Carleton co-applicant Eddie Melcer and Dalhousie co-applicant Rita Orji. Besides technical expertise, the interdisciplinary team combines strength in EDI advancement (Adrian Chan, Cynthia Cruickshank, Kevin Hewitt and Rowan Thomson) and behavioural change (Kim Hellemans, Robyn McQuaid and Natalina Salmaso).
“Our project follows the original intent of PT but ventures beyond the typical aim of supporting individuals in achieving a personal goal to ask: how can PT create transformative societal impacts?” said Carleton Faculty of Science researcher, Sonia Chiasson.
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- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: Cynthia Cruickshank
- Department of Neuroscience:
- Kim Hellemans
- Robyn McQuaid
- Natalina Salmaso
- Department of Physics: Rowan Thomson (co-director)
- Department of Systems and Computer Engineering: Adrian Chan
- School of Computer Science:
- Sonia Chiasson (Principal investigator and co-director)
- Edward Melcer
The team will design, develop and evaluate a PT platform to encourage societal change through actions to advance EDI in STEM. Through participatory design, every aspect of the project will involve end-users and interested parties.
This project will advance an evidence-based technological design framework, a coordinated suite of tools such as persuasive games, personalized Artificial Intelligence feedback components and multimedia resources to address the complexity, scale and interactivity challenges of EDI in STEM, along with long-term testing of PT in realistic situations.
“This innovative approach to the societal challenges impacting EDI in STEM will be instrumental in achieving accessible, interactive and real-world solutions”, said Rafik Goubran, Vice-President (Research, Innovation and International).
Join us in congratulating the team on our LinkedIn.
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