Background

Effective instructional methods that truly enable all students to succeed are critical to the success of the U.S. STEM workforce. Inclusive teaching is instrumental in helping instructors reflectively examine how their identities intersect and interact with their students. Such reflection helps faculty understand how to structure and implement their courses and teaching practices such that all students are uplifted and supported, increasing the likelihood that they succeed. Inclusive teaching is about inviting all to enter a learning environment that is safe, welcoming, and supportive, and that produces learning, thus promoting ongoing persistence into STEM fields and careers. 

The Faculty Inclusive Teaching Survey (FITS) Guidebook grew out of a close collaboration between the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (ISTP) and the FITS Guidebook Project, together advancing research‑informed, practical support for inclusive teaching in higher education.

The Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (ISTP) was launched in 2021 as a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) designed to prepare higher education instructors to engage with inclusive teaching perspectives and strategies. With nearly 14,000 registrants and more than 3,300 course completers across eight course offerings, ISTP has demonstrated broad reach and impact as a professional development initiative (Calkins et al., 2024; Hill et al., 2025a,b). Alongside the course, the ISTP research team conducted an extensive program of quantitative and qualitative studies to understand instructors’ learning experiences, develop and validate the pre‑ and post‑course Faculty Inclusive Teaching Survey (FITS), and examine how instructors grow in identity awareness, confidence, reflection, and readiness to implement inclusive teaching practices.

The FITS Guidebook Project builds on this ISTP foundation by extending and integrating the research in several important ways. Using data collected through ISTP, the FITS Guidebook Project conducted additional analyses, including validation of the Distal FITS survey, longitudinal post‑course and post‑distal path analyses, and integrated interpretations of quantitative findings, qualitative findings, and combined mixed‑methods evidence. These efforts culminated in the development of a new practical framework, the Inclusive Teaching Journey, along with a suite of tools, materials, and recommendations designed to support sustained reflective development in inclusive teaching. This Guidebook brings these contributions together by sharing the validated surveys and practice‑focused resources that faculty developers and instructors can use to strengthen inclusive teaching professional development in higher education.

Rooted in the ISTP results and the FITS Guidebook, we are excited to offer multiple professional development opportunities in 2026.