ERIC Number: EJ1394803
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Oct
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0742-5627
EISSN: EISSN-1573-1758
Available Date: N/A
Rethinking Backbones in Collective Impact: Examining a Broadening STEM Participation Program as a Feminist Matrix Organization
Fox, Anna; Mwangi, Chrystal George; Pachucki, Mark; Wells, Ryan; Dasgupta, Buju; Thoma, Hanni; Dunton, Sarah; Kimball, Ezekiel
Innovative Higher Education, v48 n5 p925-947 Oct 2023
Collective impact is an organizational model that is often used as a tool for solving complex social problems through cross-sector collaboration. Traditional applications of this model require a separate backbone organization to oversee the organizational partnership. Using qualitative data from a larger mixed methods study, we examined STEMSUCCESS, a STEM access program for K-12 girls, through the lenses of both collective impact and feminist matrix organizational theory. Our research questions focused on how participants characterized the organizational behaviors within and between the partnership as well as how the partnership accomplished the goals a backbone organization normally would. Although STEMSUCCESS exhibits characteristics of collective impact partnerships between universities and community organizations, we show how the partnership's design calls into question the necessity of backbone organizations through centering women and promoting a non-hierarchical structure. Rather than a centralized backbone, we recommend reimagining the collective impact model as a quilt--a living project that is flexible, communally sourced, and rooted in feminism and social change.
Descriptors: STEM Education, Student Participation, Elementary School Students, Secondary School Students, Females, Feminism, Partnerships in Education, Access to Education, Universities, Community Organizations, Program Design, Power Structure, Program Effectiveness
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A