2023-06-142023-06-142023Richard Carlos L. Velasco, Rebecca L. Hite, Jeffrey D. Milbourne & Jessica J. Gottlieb (2023) Stand out and speak up: exploring empowerment perspectives among advocacy activities of STEM teachers in the US, Teacher Development, DOI: 10.1080/13664530.2023.2207095https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2023.2207095https://hdl.handle.net/2346/94411This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in TEACHER DEVELOPMENT on 04 May 2023, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2023.2207095.Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers need sources of empowerment to effectively guide education policy and continue to participate in advocacy-based activities. This study surveyed 208 STEM teachers on their acts of advocacy to advance STEM education. The question that guided this research was as follows: What are the underlying factors that contribute to STEM teachers’ advocacy activities in effecting change to STEM education policies? An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine underlying factors contributing to STEM teachers’ engagement in advocacy activities via the theoretical lens of empowerment. The findings revealed four factors that empowered their advocacy work: critical confrontations, political awareness, communicative voice, and policymaker influence. The data suggest that as sampled STEM teachers developed a critical consciousness, they were empowered to engage in critical conversations on issues of social justice, such as galvanizing efforts to make STEM education accessible to all students and equitable for diverse learners.engAdvocacyEmpowerment TheorySTEM Education PolicySTEM TeacherArticle