Sarah Dunifon’s dissertation surfaces the hidden layers of informal STEM education funding

Fanuel Muindi interviews Dr. Sarah Dunifon, Founder and Principal Evaluator of Improved Insights, an evaluation consulting firm specializing in STEM learning. Dunifon discusses the research she conducted as part of her dissertation at the University of Pittsburgh looking at funding priorities and evaluation policies in informal STEM education to uncover trends and challenges in the field. She shares insights into how funders communicate their goals, noting that “funders are way more explicit about their funding priorities than they are about their evaluation policies,” which can leave nonprofits unsure about expectations.

Surprisingly, she found that “only two of 42 funders explicitly stated they would support evaluations financially,” despite evaluation being “how we show that we’re making progress towards our goals.” Dunifon also highlights the importance of transparency in evaluation practices, adding that tools like clear guidelines and monetary support signal that funders truly value this work.

Reflecting on terminology shifts, she points out that fewer funders use the term “pipeline” and now prefer “ecosystems” or “pathways” to describe STEM learning systems. She also emphasizes the need for funders to evaluate their policies critically, asking, “Are they transparent? Are they equitable? Does this fit within our values?”

Dunifon wraps up by discussing actionable insights for nonprofits, evaluators, and funders, and her vision for global research, stating, “An extension of this work that would be really interesting is looking globally at what funding networks exist elsewhere.”

Links

Read the dissertation

About Improved Insights

Chapters

0:00 CivicSciTV Intro

0:16 QOTD Intro

0:36 Previously on QOTD

1:27 Dunifon intro

2:45 Career Origins

4:43 What is ISE?

7:08 Funding Terminology

10:02 Study approach

12:26 Evaluation policies

16:08 Evaluation support

18:03 NSF AISL Model

19:52 Scholarship vs Practice

21:03 Actionable Insights

24:10 Future Directions

25:51 Current Applications

27:22 New Funders

28:21 U.S. Focus

Additional Reading:

Civic Science Funding Index

Visualizing Society for Science’s STEM Action microgrants across the U.S. — Organizations in CA, TX, NY, FL, and MA are among the awardees

Fanuel Muindi

Fanuel Muindi is a former neuroscientist turned civic science scholar-journalist and entrepreneur. He is a Professor of Practice in the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University where he leads the Civic Science Media Lab. Dr. Muindi received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and PhD in Organismal Biology from Morehouse College and Stanford University respectively. He completed his postdoctoral training at MIT.

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