Transformation of faculty dissemination practices via social media

An expected outcome for academic researchers includes dissemination of their research in traditional venues such as peer-reviewed journals and at academic conferences. With a growing emphasis on broadening the participation of diverse audiences within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), federal agencies are encouraging researchers to diversify the ways that they are communicating their research findings and are presenting themselves to nonacademic audiences. Aligned with this goal of broadening participation is Golde and Walker's idea of transformation,1 which focuses upon the ability of scholars to communicate their technical research in a variety of ways via activities such as out-of-class teaching, oral presentations, and outreach activities. This paper reports findings of an exploratory study that investigates avenues through which transformation within STEM occurs via social media (e.g., Twitter and Facebook) along with ways that underrepresented minority (URM) faculty researchers are branding themselves across a variety of social media platforms. This study is similar to Pearson's work that explored faculty's use of social media and their concerns about social media usage.2 It differs, however, in its focus on ways in which URM faculty are disseminating information about their scholarship via social media, their reasons for selecting the social media that they choose, their frequency of social media use for academic purposes, and their perceived understandings of the effects of such use. Research results and expertise from a nationally recognized entrepreneur and media personality will be used to inform a discussion about ways that underrepresented minority STEM researchers, a group that has traditionally been marginalized and isolated within the academy, may expand their reach to society via social media and may disseminate their work efficiently and effectively given the rigorous demands of academic life.