Sharing measures, metrics, and outcomes is critical to communicating progress and challenges and promoting effective action. In September 2021, NSF INCLUDES is launching a Shared Measures platform that will collect and present data documenting the national effort to broaden participation in STEM education and careers.
The initial data set, provided by the eight original NSF INCLUDES Alliances, documents the characteristics of the populations served and the growing reach and outcomes associated with the collaborative infrastructure model.
Any project or initiative engaged in efforts to broaden participation in STEM for historically excluded populations ─ including African Americans, Hispanics, Native Alaskans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, persons with disabilities, women and girls, and persons from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds ─ is invited to contribute data. Visit the Shared Measures homepage and click the “Request to Submit Project Data” tab.
As more information is collected and shared from an expanding network of projects, the Shared Measures platform will serve as a resource for tracking indicators of long-term institutional transformation and systems change, as well as a dynamic repository of data on national broadening participation efforts and associated outcomes. It will inform the work of the NSF INCLUDES Network community through shared data on the practices, partners, resources, and tools of other initiatives, and provide useful insights for NSF and federal agencies, Congress, policymakers, and the public.
The data tracks current collective progress in three critical areas: reaching a diverse population, developing a cohesive collaborative infrastructure, and promoting equity in STEM academic and career pathways.
The platform is designed to be accessible and user-friendly. This was achieved through a collaborative process, with representatives from the Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 Alliances working with the NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub to select and shape data most appropriate and informative for the initiative to track, measure, and present publicly.
Some key findings from the initial Shared Measures data set and features to explore on the platform:
 | Most of the 345 partner organizations in the initial data set represent institutions of higher education (IHEs). Explore participating organizations by partner type, project affiliation, and location here. |
 | Efforts to develop Leadership and Collaboration, one of the five elements of collaborative infrastructure, have gained a great deal of traction within the initial data contribution cohort. All survey items related to this design element were rated 81.0 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 100). View these survey items and more here. |
 | Alliances are beginning to provide evidence of their progress attaining a broad range of broadening participation outcomes in STEM academic and career pathways. Learn more about their efforts here. |