Molly Stuhlsatz

How I got here:

My journey in science education research began in 2003 when I joined BSCS as an undergraduate student in sociology. I had no idea at that time that I would remain at the organization nearly 20 years later. While my prior research at BSCS has largely focused on how our professional learning and instructional materials impact student and teacher cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, when Brian Donovan joined BSCS I was fascinated by his early work around the impact of science education on social constructs like race and thrilled to be included as a thought partner on the first proposal to NSF to conduct a larger study. I was also eager to engage in conversations about how science education might impact the way students and teachers think about other social constructs. Specifically, I had long thought about how my educational pathway may have been influenced by my gender and the ways that I had learned science in school. Brian and I started having conversations about whether a how we might investigate students’ development of gender stereotypes through the biology curriculum. We conducted a few small pilot studies that indicated more research in this area was warranted. That led us to reach out to our current research partners, Andrei Cimpian at NYU and Catherine Riegle-Crumb at UT Austin to expand our work and figure out how the typical genetics curriculum might lead students to have flawed understandings of the biology of sex, and gender as a social construct. I am also deeply invested in creating a strong organizational culture at BSCS through my role as the Associate Director for People and Culture and feel that the work we are doing to uncover systems of oppression in science education are core to the values of our organization.

How my identity intersects with my work:

When I consider the ways that my identity intersects with my work, I think about how my identity is both seen and unseen and how it shapes my vision for the future. I think about the immense privilege that I experience when I enter work and public spaces because of my white skin, my normative gender, and my able body. I think about where my family lives, where my children go to school, and where I work — on the traditional territories of the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), the Jicarilla Apache, and the Cheyenne Nations. I think about how we flourish on these lands because of the colonization, dispossession, and forced removal of Indigenous Peoples. I consider the ways that my experience of growing up with a single mother who worked through her own higher education when I was a child impacted my own interest in education. I think about how I was taught science and how it led me to the conclusion that science was not for me, but now I hold an influential position at a science education organization. I hope that BSCS will continue to lead the way in transforming science education and ultimately science, to include voices that have traditionally been excluded and inspire all teachers and students to consider how science intersects with their lives outside of school.   

Other work I am interested in:

I love to think up new ways to investigate how science education interventions impact student and teacher outcomes. I enjoy working on problems of measurement and how we better assess student cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes in our research studies. I am also interested in how quantitative reasoning or statistical thinking is a way to build interest in mathematics within the context of other disciplines like science and social studies. Finally, I am super motivated by working on the organizational culture at BSCS and taking our work into the future.

Research stats:

Whew, that’s a big question. I think that a look at my CV is probably the best way to go! Click here.

What do I do with the rest of my life:

Most of my time outside of work is spent with my family. When we aren’t keeping up with school, pets, and extra-curricular activities we love to go on road trip adventures around the country. On a cloudy day in the spring, summer, or fall you can find me in my garden attempting to cultivate a hummingbird, butterfly, and bee friendly space. In the winter I love to relax with my knitting and a true-crime podcast. I also love to ride vintage Italian motor scooters and trains!