Lead. Differently.

AAC&U’s Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) STEM Leadership Institute® is an immersive professional development experience that is grounded in a simple but powerful premise. STEM leadership is not a role. It is a state of being.

The institute catalyzes the internal shifts needed to ignite and support deep, meaningful change in undergraduate STEM education and in the leader who willingly and boldly seeks greater responsibility for it. Organized around its CORE© framework  - Consciousness, Ownership, Resonance, and Embodiment, the institute offers structured opportunities to  and the politics of change within higher education systems and structures. Participants explore these dimensions through an in-depth DiSC® leadership assessment and analysis; experiential learning activities; mindfulness-based stress reduction practices; and executive coaching and mentoring.

• in-depth DiCS leadership assessment and analysis by DiSC-certified practitioners and mentors;
• guided, practice-based activities that mirror authentic and contextually valid leadership challenges in twenty-first-century undergraduate STEM reform;
• self-reflective mindfulness practices with certified mindfulness teachers and practitioners;
• executive coaching sessions with certified executive coaches and experienced STEM faculty and administrators who challenge, provoke, support, and inspire change; and
• strategic community relationship and partnership building with a diverse cohort of colleagues tackling similar challenges at their own institutions.

Who Should Attend

The PKAL STEM Leadership Institute supports leaders who do not simply implement change—but become the conditions through which change is possible. This institute is uniquely designed for

• early- to mid-career STEM faculty, administrators, and staff seeking to advance undergraduate STEM education;
• principal investigators leading (or desiring to lead) effective STEM reform initiatives;
• administrators of academic STEM units; and
• postdoctoral fellows.

What Participants Will Gain

Participants in the PKAL STEM Leadership Institute will leave with more than mere tools, techniques, or tricks. Our leadership development framework positions participants to leave the institute with actionable strategies and organizational change pathways that are grounded in institutional and sociopolitical realities.

Participants gain the clarity, capacity, and coherence required lead change from their CORE© through:

1. Expanded Leadership CONSCIOUSNESS, where participants develop
   • clarity about their sphere of influence, regardless of role or title;
   • the ability to recognize institutional patterns that can sustain or stall change; and
   • language to name and describe challenges with precision and confidence.
2. A Strong Sense of OWNERSHIP and Agency, where participants strengthen their ability to
   • act with intention and confidence; and
   • lead through volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity while navigating competing demands.
3. Leadership RESONANCE, where participants build
   • greater harmony between personal values, life decisions, and leadership practice; and
   • stronger alignment between commitments to institutional change and institutional values.
4. EMBODIED Leadership Practices, where participants cultivate
   • a leadership stance that is lived rather than performed;
   • approaches to leadership that honor personal well-being and life purpose; and
   • practices that support consistency, integrity, and longevity.

Beyond the Institute

The PKAL STEM Leadership Institute is not a one-and-done leadership development experience—it is the entry point to an enduring professional connection that shapes how participants lead throughout their entire careers.

Institute alumni are welcomed into a national community of hundreds of STEM leaders who are connected through this shared institute experience, a deepened consciousness of themselves as leaders, and an evidence-based view of institutional systems and structures and how to leverage them for long-term change and impact.

Alumni also receive early information and access to other AAC&U STEM professional development opportunities, travel awards, conferences, and funding programs.

Apply now to begin a STEM leadership journey with us.