Capturing Collaboration Networks of Broadening Participation Researchers
Postdoctoral researcher Steve Elliott presented results from CGEST research at two scholarly conferences in May. The results stem from a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). CGEST executive director Kimberly A. Scott and ASU dean of social sciences Elizabeth Wentz are the primary investigators (PIs) for that project. The project studies the NSF portfolio of awards for broadening participation (BP) in science and technology. Elliott has been analyzing metadata from tens of thousands of such awards to identify collaboration networks among funded researchers and trends in project topics. Furthermore, undergraduate researcher Hatem Al-Hattali has been using geographical information systems (GIS) software to map the distribution of these awards across the US. Together, Elliott and Al-Hattali are identifying regions within the US of intense or of little collaboration for broadening participation awards.
Elliott first presented at the Annual Meeting for the International Network for the Science of Team Science (INSciTS) in Lansing, Michigan, on May 22nd. INSciTS includes those who study how teams of researchers conduct science, those who lead teams that would benefit from such results, and those like officials from funding agencies and universities who aim to foster better team-based science. Elliott’s talk, “Finding Colleagues and Emerging Subdisciplines via Systematic Network Analysis of Funding Awards,” was part of a session focused on network analyses of interactions between researchers. Elliott, along with co-authors Kimberly A. Scott, Elizabeth Wentz, and Al-Hattali, argued for several things. First, while many network analysts study citation relationships between research articles and co-authorship relations between scientists, co-PI relationships between researchers are comparatively understudied and yield complementary information that serves several uses. It helps identify researchers who hold relative sway within a funding program, and it shows the subset of collaborations that are based on mutual financial commitments. Second, these networks can aid researchers as they perform scoping analyses for review articles and grant applications. Finally they can reveal trends in meaningful subregions of the US. Elliott argued for these claims, reviewed protocols that he and Al-Hattali are developing to study co-PI networks, and illustrated their use with the NSF INCLUDES portfolio of awards, which focuses on building collaborative networks of researchers. The session was standing room only. Elliott received positive feedback and reviews, and he established potential collaborations with other network scientists.
Elliott next presented on behalf of the same co-authors at the Annual Convening for the NSF INCLUDES program, in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 29. The convening included those who have received an NSF award through the INCLUDES program, NSF administrators, and other subject matter experts. Like most attendees, Elliott presented a poster. The poster represented the geographical distribution of all INCLUDES awards, the co-PI relationships between funded researchers, and how their collaboration networks span subregions of the US. Most importantly, Elliott connected with network analysts among the INCLUDES administrators and began talks on further collaborations.
The work presented in these two venues exemplifies CGEST’s mission in several ways. First, it provided cutting edge analyses for what is increasingly called the science of broadening participation. The team’s results indicate how BP collaboration networks are evolving, how those networks extend within or cross meaningful subregions of the US, and potential routes by which to modify those networks. Given these analyses, CGEST can more effectively design and pursue large scale and collaborative funding awards that will affect students of color as they consider STEM. Furthermore, by disseminating results to national and international audiences from several different disciplines, such as science of team science, CGEST ensures that its work is seen and understood by those who don’t normally or specifically focus on issues of equity and inclusion in STEM.
For this project, there are several things on the horizon. Elliott and Al-Hattali are analyzing data for NSF awards that seek to broaden participation in K-12 STEM education. These analyses build on the protocols developed for the INCLUDES analyses, and Elliott will present new results at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science in September. Next, the project team will host a subset of BP K-12 researchers, identified by the network analyses, at ASU in November. The project team will conduct interviews and group discussions about what those researchers would like for the future of their subdiscipline. Third, Al-Hattali is working on a web application through which to study the geographical distributions of all NSF Broadening Participation awards, and it is planned for launch during the Fall semester. Ultimately, these efforts will be recorded in manuscripts for publication in academic journals and short policy-relevant pieces.
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Postdoctoral Reseatrch Scholar
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