Chemistry & Biochemistry faculty members recently contributed to a new University of California report, Expanding Opportunity: Chemistry, Math, and the Future of STEM at UC.
Based on systemwide data, published research, and interviews with faculty and staff from all nine undergraduate UC campuses, this report—prepared by the University of California Office of the President’s (UCOP) Institutional Research and Academic Planning in fall 2024 and spring 2025—examines equity and student success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. The report can be found here.
Professors Al Courey (Associate Dean of Physical Science for Inclusive Excellence), Alex Spokoyny (Department Chair), Justin Caram, and Abby Kavner contributed to the report through interviews and discussions.
“We are always looking for ways to improve student outcomes,” said Professor Justin Caram. “We don’t want introductory chemistry to discourage students from pursuing careers in science.”
Dr. Shanna Shaked, adjunct professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and senior associate director at UCLA’s Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences (CEILS), also contributed to the report. Shaked works extensively with Chemistry & Biochemistry faculty to help improve undergraduate education.
“I see UCLA’s Chemistry & Biochemistry department already implementing so many of the recommendations in this report,” Shaked said. “They’re ‘protecting what works’ by, for example, continuing to support in-person sections in the enhanced introductory chemistry course (Chemistry 14AE). They’re supporting ‘peer educator roles as career-connected learning experience’ by, for example, supporting the more than 120 undergraduate Learning Assistants per quarter. Through their engagement with UCLA’s SEA Change efforts (a national program from the American Association for the Advancement of Science), they have created a departmental team to explore and implement data-informed actions to improve undergraduate teaching in a systemic way, thereby ‘planning coordinated approaches to pedagogy and curriculum redesign’, ‘integrating equity questions into routine processes like curriculum review and program planning’, and ‘connecting intervention assessment with available data and expertise’. Finally, with the recent hire of three teaching professors, all of whom implement evidence-based teaching practices, they are ‘elevating faculty leadership in effective, equity-oriented instruction’. These are just a few examples of how the department is already implementing many of the report’s recommendations.”
“For some students, the path to a STEM degree may be disrupted as early as the first math or chemistry course,” the report’s Executive Summary states. “These foundational “gateway” courses, intended to launch students into science and engineering fields, can instead serve as gatekeepers. Success often hinges on prior educational experience, reflecting systemic inequities in access to advanced coursework, resources, and support. UC is tackling these challenges through innovative, inclusive approaches to STEM education.”
“Our hope is that [the report] serves as a starting point for further conversations and collaborations across the UC system and beyond,” wrote UCOP Institutional Research and Academic Planning project leaders in an email distributing the report to participants.
Released in September 2025, the report examines how introductory chemistry and mathematics courses—essential pathways to STEM—can also act as barriers, especially for students from historically excluded communities. It highlights UC’s responsibility as a public research system and minority-serving institution to ensure that all students have equitable opportunities to succeed in STEM fields.
Campus case studies show how faculty are redesigning course sequences, applying real-world instruction, expanding peer mentoring, and piloting new grading models. The report underscores that lasting progress depends on systemwide coordination and sustained investment, positioning UC to lead in building a more inclusive and effective model of undergraduate STEM education.
The report also details innovations and trends across all campuses, and concludes with eight recommendations for advancing equity in STEM at UC, including sustaining effective initiatives, sharing instructional resources, designing career-connected peer educator roles, supporting coordinated and scalable redesign, promoting data-driven equity assessment, linking interventions to data and expertise, elevating faculty leadership in equitable instruction, and aligning STEM equity goals with UC’s broader mission and partnerships.
Also included in the report are six appendices that provide detail and resources for further exploration. These include: campus-level innovations, a summary of redesigned courses, an overview of grant support, descriptions of multi-campus collaborations, and a collection of shareable teaching and learning resources.
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
