Departmental Action Teams can catalyze sustained change at individual, group, and organization levels

Models supporting sustained departmental change have emerged in recent years, including the Departmental Action Team (DAT) Project. However, a gap exists in our understanding of mechanisms by which change occurs after external support ends. We previously determined that among the 17 STEM departments that hosted externally facilitated DATs between 2015 and 2020, about 65% experienced changes that were subsequently sustained for years. These DATs provide an opportunity to investigate the outcomes and mechanisms associated with intentionally-planned, sustained change.

This qualitative study focused on three DATs from different STEM disciplines that each received two years of external facilitation and catalyzed diverse and sustained change outcomes in their departments. We used inductive coding methods to analyze interviews of at least five members of each DAT, which generated 11 major categories within three clusters of codes. The coding clusters illustrate the kinds of outcomes, supports, and impediments to change experienced by DAT members. We separately applied Crossan, Lane, and White's Organizational Learning Framework to investigate how change emerged at different levels within DAT departments. Despite the presence of impeding factors, we found each DAT catalyzed change at individual, group, and organization levels. Individual impacts included change in individuals' facilitation skills and their understanding of change. Group-level change impacts included reports, discussions, and events that DATs organized to support community-building, sense-making, and decision-making. Organization level change impacts included program-level curricular changes, the formation of permanent committees supporting sustained change, and changes to departmental norms and priorities.

We found that the emergence of internal facilitators supporting change teams, the formation of new change teams, and ongoing support from departmental leaders were critical factors for sustaining organization level changes. This work contributes empirical confirmation of team-based departmental change theory and provides insights around conditions and mechanisms important for creating and sustaining departmental change initiatives.