Engaging under‐represented populations in STEM

Abstract

Elementary and secondary students on Manhattan's Lower East Side perform in the bottom 20th percentile of a nation that is currently ranked 17th worldwide for STEM literacy. To address this educational crisis, Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, a community‐based nonprofit, provides single‐point engagement coupled with long‐term after school and summer camp programming, all based on STEM principles. Culturally relevant programs are tailored to different demographic groups within a highly economically, ethnically, and age diverse community. High‐interest activities (e.g. water quality workshops, nature walking tours) use neighborhood history and urban ecology to hook the audience into participating in longer‐term behavioral ecology, engineering, and citizen science projects. Shorter activities use technology and critical thinking skills, long‐term projects emphasize scientific rigor, data analysis, and collaboration. Partnerships with local companies, organizations, and universities augment our programming and show participants how regional projects can have global significance. For audiences such as ours, with less prior exposure to STEM, we use project‐based learning to harness the excitement of discovery for learners. We find that through this strategy, STEM literacy is increasing in participants of the long‐term programs, and the rate of attendance at single events is increasing.