The Center for Learning, Education and Research in the Sciences
HHMI Inclusive Excellence Grant
Oberlin is one of just 24 colleges and universities nationwide awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence grant as part of ongoing work to address institutional inequities and promote leadership in improving science education.
Students make and record their observations in the lab of neuroscience professor Gunnar Kwakye.
Photo credit: Nora Rodriguez
Through the Inclusive Excellence grants, HHMI seeks to catalyze the capacity of institutions to engage diverse undergraduate students in the sciences.
At Oberlin, HHMI initiatives took various forms. Dedicated teams of students, staff, and faculty worked to identify institutional challenges and barriers while envisioning new opportunities and community structures to advance the participation and success of students of all backgrounds in STEM disciplines.
Substantial gaps exist in the persistence and success of students of color and other underrepresented groups in STEM fields. As the first institution of higher education to admit Black students and women, Oberlin worked to continue its historic role in promoting and modeling equity in higher education through its participation in the HHMI grant.
To promote institutional transformation, Oberlin's HHMI grant supported seven STEM departments by funding a visiting faculty position. This provided course release for continuing faculty and teaching staff, allowing them to participate in and develop programs, assessments, curricula, resources, and other tools to advance this initiative.
The participating academic departments included biology, neuroscience, chemistry, geology, psychology, and mathematics.
Discover more about the HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant, its objectives, and its outcomes.