The ways in which educational organizations develop programs, approach pedagogy, and emphasize community building result in similarities and differences across different organizations’ structures. However, past research hasn’t developed a conceptual framework for understanding how differences in organizational structures might influence the educational outcomes of students from different backgrounds. The D-Lab NSF IUSE (Improving Undergraduate STEM Education) team sought to develop such a framework by leveraging past research from the fields of education, history, psychology, and sociology.