ICON FRAMEWORK FOR PROMOTING EQUITY AND JUSTICE IN GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION

For over four decades the geosciences have strived to increase its diversity with limited success. This means that the geoscience field continues to lag despite the many benefits that a diverse community can provide. Additionally, equity and justice have the potential to enhance community and institutional policies, recruitment and retention of systemically non-dominant learners and employers, and promote social justice in the geosciences. Research has shown that a DEIJ framework starting at the university level provides geoscientists cultural and practical preparation. One promising approach for promoting DEIJ is applying the Integrated, Coordinated, Open, and Networked (ICON) framework to build capacity for advancing DEIJ. In this talk, a group of diverse geoscience education researchers provide their perspectives and examples of promoting equity and justice education within geoscience fields using ICON. Collectively, we suggest that education, professional development, and community building to support new leaders is central to advancing DEIJ. We highlight the potential for developing new models for transformation that may help change decades of stagnation.