It’s in Our DNA: Leadership Perspectives on Institutionalizing STEM Success in an Alliance

This study investigated how institutional leaders within an alliance navigate and use their agency to cultivate organizational change support the success of underrepresented racial minority (URM) science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) students. As part this study, we partnered with Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ILSAMP), a signature program National Science Foundation (NSF), explore our research question. The phenomenon interest is leaders’ perceptions organization’s efforts engage in URM STEM student through various initiatives. team conducted 20 semi-structured interviews faculty at 11 public private institutions as alliance. We utilized Braun Clarke’s (2006) six-phased thematic analysis identify patterns meaning data that respond Findings revealed leadership perspective frames approaches initiatives becoming institution’s fabric. contribution relates illumination tension between leaders' make sustainable versus structural networks inhibiting efforts.