McNaughtan, Jon2022-01-112022-01-112021-122021-12December 2https://hdl.handle.net/2346/88714The persistent gender gap across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the U.S. is a critical issue for the projected growth and innovation of STEM industries. Females earn a lower percentage of bachelor’s degrees across STEM academic fields compared to males. Federal and state agencies have released calls for proposals to support innovative instructional strategies in introductory STEM learning environments that are aimed at promoting student engagement. This call to action is important because the lowest rate of retention in undergraduate (UG) STEM education occurs during the first and second academic years. However, a large-scale adoption of innovative instructional strategies across introductory STEM education has been slow. Consequently, the gender gap remains persistent. Diffusion research suggests that the communication and social structures of an organization are systematic barriers that can impact the spread of information across an organization. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore a process for diffusing innovative instructional strategies to academic departments.application/pdfengDiffusionSTEMThesis2022-01-11Access is not restricted.