Shaping Our Future Students: The Impact of STEM Outreach Programs

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1 Shaping Our Future Students: The Impact of STEM Outreach Programs Heather I. Ritchey This paper was completed and submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master Teacher Program, a 2-year faculty professional development program conducted by the Center for Faculty Excellence, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, Study Motivation The author of this review is one of the faculty advisors for the local chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). The mission of SWE is to [s]timulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity (Society of Women Engineers, 2016). The USMA SWE section works closely with the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity (ODIEO) and the Center for Leadership and Diversity in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (CLD-STEM) to conduct STEM outreach events locally and nationally for students in grades K-12. In order to look at the program for possible improvements, the author conducted a review of relevant literature that looked at the motivation for increased STEM study within the U.S., the gender gap in STEM including factors and possible means to make improvements, understanding the general ideas of STEM outreach programs to include the strengths and weaknesses of existing outreach programs, and the impact of role models to include proper STEM role model selection. The study draws conclusions from these areas with a focus on the ability to improve the existing STEM outreach programs currently undertaken at the United States Military Academy (USMA), especially those conducted by the SWE student section. STEM Education in America The performance of American students in STEM fields is a topic of concern at the national level due to the impacts these students will have on the future of the country s workforce and economy. U.S. students display a lack of willingness to enter STEM degree programs, and therefore reduce the number of future domestic STEM professionals. The U.S. is losing its competitive edge in the global economy due to not meeting the full potential in the workforce for STEM disciplines (Wilson, et al., 2014). This loss of competitiveness requires the U.S. to look at those groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields in order to make up the difference while understanding that recent advances in technology will increase the demand for STEM majors at a time when the population pursuing these careers is decreasing (Weber, 2011). For the U.S, this means acknowledging the need to avoid shortfalls of scientists and engineers by increasing the number of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields (Tsui, 2007). With women representing approximately 50% of the population, closing the gender gap on women in STEM should start to address the shortfall that the U.S. faces. While it is likely valid to assume that efforts to increase the overall STEM population benefit women and minorities, current research suggests that it is important to understand that different barriers impact women and minorities (Tsui, 2007). Therefore, it is worth devoting the time to look at 1

2 these group individually. For the purposes of this study, the focus will be the gender gap and ways to increase the representation of women within STEM fields for academia and industry. Gender Gap in STEM In the U.S., there is a STEM gender gap, with women underrepresented in fields that involve work in math intensive subjects. This gap is less prevalent in science programs such as psychology and sociology which typically require less advanced math than other programs within the STEM fields (Ceci & Williams, 2010). In these math-intensive STEM fields, women are less likely to matriculate and also less likely to complete advanced studies at the graduate level. This contributes to the fact that academic institutions have fewer women pursue and apply for tenure track positions. Ceci and Williams (2010) find that most university departments in math-intensive fields have less than one third of all tenure track positions filled by women, and less than 5% of their full professors are women. They also found that women exit the tenure track positions at higher loss rates than men do, and that the loss does not depend on whether these women have children. While Ceci and Williams focused on women remaining in academia, the lack of women matriculating into these programs also contributes to the gap in industry because these are fields that require professional education and potential licensing that is dependent on a strong formal education. The gender gap therefore impacts the available talent pool within STEM fields, because the women that are successful in these programs are a limited resource which is required for both industry and academia. At the individual level, the gender gap in STEM fields also has a much more personal impact on women, because it creates conditions for the existing gender pay gap. Xu (2015) noted that earnings for college graduates are primarily dependent on three factors: major selection, college quality, and possession of an advanced degree. As an underrepresented population within STEM programs, women score lower than men in all three areas which reduces their lifetime earning potential. Factors Given the presence of an acknowledged gender gap in STEM studies, the next logical question is to understand why that gap exists before any logical plans can be made to change it. Historically, many have attributed the lack of women in STEM fields to biological or cognitive differences in men and women, but this explanation only accounts for some statistical variation at the very tail ends of the distribution. Over the last thirty years the ratio of boys to girls scoring at the top 0.01% of mathematical ability has shrunk from 13:1 in 1983 to 3.2:1 in 2005, with a trend line that suggests the gap will continue to narrow (Ceci & Williams, 2010). If the difference in ability was purely due to a difference in innate abilities for men and women, historical results should not display this narrowing. This can suggest that there are other factors that contribute to the inconsistency in results. One potential factor that could contribute to the gender gap in STEM is the education environment for girls during their early years at home and in school. As children are growing, their parents and teachers act as key influencers, with the ability to inform what children study and what interests they pursue. If these key influencers lack an understanding of or interest in STEM programs, they will not be able to guide children to view STEM as a valid future (Constan & Spicer, 2015). Previous work has shown that student success in STEM is shaped by 2

3 high school curriculum, access to teachers with domain expertise, and experience with lab activities and lab equipment (Tsui, 2007). This contributed to the overall STEM gap in the U.S. since there is a sharp divide between schools that have access to lab equipment and those who do not. Students with potential talent for STEM fields may choose other interests if they do not have a strong lab program in their schools, and they are not exposed to lab work through other out of school activities or enrichment programs. Beyond the exposure to lab activities and lab experiments, there are still impediments to pursuing STEM programs that have a different impact on girls than they do in boys. Unfortunately, there are often reports that girls may face a different school environment than boys. When this academic sexism occurs, in the form of comments about girls abilities in math and science, it leads to the perception of incompetence in these fields and therefore reduce the perceived value of studying math and science (Mosatche, Matloff-Nieves, Kekelis, & Lawner, 2013). Some of this academic sexism comes from previous research on the lack of women in STEM fields, which centered on biological/cognitive differences between men and women. However, taken as a whole, this body of work does not fully explain the differences, especially with women outperforming men in math classes through undergraduate work (Ceci & Williams, 2010). Girls who could perform well in STEM fields may never think of STEM as an option if they perceive STEM as being an area in which they are unlikely to excel. The perception of a hostile environment to women in STEM extends beyond the classroom, since the number one reason given by women quitting corporate STEM jobs was a hostile, macho workplace with high incidence of sexual harassment, and an aggressive and competitive atmosphere (Ceci & Williams, 2010, p. 211). Even in organizations that promote equality for all workers, the environment can cause implicit biases that may lead to unintentional discriminatory behavior (Jackson, Hillard, & Schneider, 2014). When women leave corporate or academic STEM jobs at a disproportionate rate to their male peers, this can reinforce the perception that women are less able to perform well in these jobs. This creates risk for recruiting women to enter STEM fields. The problem of the gender gap in STEM is therefore not only focused on increasing the number of women that enter STEM fields, but also on creating conditions that will encourage women to stay in these fields with the opportunity to become leaders in their areas of expertise. Means to Overcome Long term success in a STEM field requires a strong foundation in basic math and science. Overcoming the gender gap in STEM will require intervention across the spectrum of the career, but part of the solution is an emphasis on early intervention to foster interest in math and science for young students (Xu, 2015). Intervention is crucial in shaping the future STEM population and closing the gap for overall STEM education in America, as well as closing the gender gap. Efforts to foster interest in STEM need to occur early in a child s formal education, and must include collaboration with the education system, the family, the government, and the corporations that will need future STEM workers (Tsui, 2007). Intervention will help shape the students perceptions of what classes are valuable or worth their time, and can directly impact the math and science courses that are pursued at the high school level, which will influence university applications (Weber, 2011). Students need to avoid accidentally self-selecting out of STEM simply due to a lack of understanding of the importance of including math and science in their high school curriculum (St. Pierre & Christian, 2002). Outreach programs, whether 3

4 supported by a local college, professional society, or corporation, can help to ensure that students have exposure to laboratory settings, and an understanding of what STEM careers can look like. Intervention focused on girls has been shown to have a positive impact by increasing the perception of competence in science and make STEM more appealing to all girls, even those who have not already expressed interest. (Mosatche, Matloff-Nieves, Kekelis, & Lawner, 2013). Early intervention is key in creating a population that is large enough to ensure that the members of a minority group feel empowered to continue in that area. Underrepresented groups see reduced marginalization and increased self-sustainability as a group when they reach between % of the total population (Wilson, et al., 2014). This underlines the importance of creating a welcoming environment for girls to feel that they can participate in STEM related courses and activities. While girls outperform boys in math and science courses in high school, girls are less likely to participate in engineering and computer science programs. Intervention needs to focus on both the girls confidence and their interest (Mosatche, Matloff-Nieves, Kekelis, & Lawner, 2013). Outreach programs can benefit girls because of the opportunity to engage with women who are already working in STEM, whether in academics or industry, and these women can serve as role models while also providing the laboratory experience. STEM Outreach Programs To being discussing STEM outreach programs, the first requirement is to understand what is meant when talking about outreach. There is no universal definition, but almost all of them agree with the idea that [t]he main goal of STEM Outreach is to develop programs and initiatives that will encourage children to continue their studies in mathematics and science and to consider careers in engineering, science and technology (St. Pierre & Christian, 2002, p. 24). Any initiative that is undertaken with the intent to highlight and improve STEM awareness and build the skills that increase STEM literacy can be considered an outreach program (Spellman, Jones, & Katsio-Loudis, 2014). STEM outreach programs should not be considered a replacement for classroom instruction on STEM topics as part of a formal education program. Outreach programs, through active learning and mentorship, are able to build on and reinforce STEM concepts which are taught in the classroom (Spellman, Jones, & Katsio-Loudis, 2014). Therefore, it is important to ensure that communication occurs with partnered schools to understand the current curriculum and any strengths and weaknesses that the outreach program can assist with. Part of the reason why outreach events are so important for STEM is to help students understand what a future in STEM would be like. Through survey before and after a STEM camp, researchers concluded that outreach had a positive impact on students understanding of the applicability of science in daily life, as well as a better understanding of possible future careers in STEM (Levine, Serio, Radaram, Chaudhuri, & Talbert, 2015). This ability to understand a future in STEM provides a benefit to the outreach partner because it encourages the future recruitment of students into STEM programs (St. Pierre & Christian, 2002). The recognition that STEM outreach is mutually beneficial for the attendees and the participants is important because of the constant need to justify resources (Kressly, Herbert, Ross, & Votsch, 2009). STEM outreach should therefore be considered as an important investment in the future by the universities and corporations that facilitate them. 4

5 Requirements Looking specifically at programs that have been successful with outreach efforts targeted towards girls and young women, there are a few key commonalities between these programs. Since outreach is designed to reinforce and support classroom learning, it should be primarily an immersive experience with hands-on activities or field trips that promote scientific thought and experimentation (Levine, Serio, Radaram, Chaudhuri, & Talbert, 2015). Additionally, outreach events should include discussions of how to achieve a career in STEM, as students often struggle with knowing the necessary steps to develop a realistic plan for education and professional development (Constan & Spicer, 2015). Successful outreach events understand the role of parents and teachers in shaping the future for students. One program in Pennsylvania targeted parental involvement while students were participating in the actual outreach workshop. The outreach program provided parents with information on the needs of the STEM workforce in the local area so they could understand the job availability for students with STEM degrees. Outreach volunteers also worked with parents to ensure they had information on how to encourage their daughters to pursue STEM studies and to qualify and compete for various scholarship opportunities. The local university hosted the outreach event, and was able to provide information on the programs offered at their campus, with the expected outcome that the outreach event would encourage future applications (Weber, 2011). Efforts such as this program directly support the requirement to address influencers as part of the reason why students may not pursue STEM degrees (Constan & Spicer, 2015). Students do not exist in isolation, and STEM outreach events that consider their key influencers are more likely to have a positive impact on the student. Outreach programs also need to reach their core audience if they are to succeed. Therefore, programs that focus ensuring that activities are tied into the students lives are the ones that are most successful (Mosatche, Matloff-Nieves, Kekelis, & Lawner, 2013). This creates the requirement to understand the target audience. Research looking at the expectancyvalue framework offers insight into how to tailor activities to the audience. This framework suggests that motivation is determined by the expectancy, or perceived likelihood of success, and the value, or perceived desirability of the outcome (Morganroth, Ryan, & Peters, 2015). With this framework in mind, an outreach program focused on elementary school girls working with Girl Scouts should have a different focus than one that is directed towards girls enrolled in a magnet school for math and science. Bearing in mind the need to connect with the target audience, one program in Queens has had success in promoting their outreach initiative as a leadership program covering such diverse topics as gender roles, societal pressures, and genderequity topics in addition to STEM engagement. This inspired interest even in students that would not self-identify as being interested in STEM (Mosatche, Matloff-Nieves, Kekelis, & Lawner, 2013). Anyone designing a new STEM outreach program can draw inspiration from previous successful programs, but must understand that they need to creatively tailor their event to their target audience while effectively using their available resources and personnel. Challenges One of the key difficulties in designing a STEM outreach program is understanding how to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Programs can have difficulty in proving effectiveness due to a lack of statistical evaluation of program outcomes compared to objectives 5

6 (Constan & Spicer, 2015). Some of the participants in STEM outreach programs may lack the necessary skills and abilities to succeed in a STEM degree. If an outreach program informs a student that her skills may be better suited to a different area, is this to be considered a success or a failure of the outreach program? Is success achieving a measurable change in attitude towards STEM (Levine, Serio, Radaram, Chaudhuri, & Talbert, 2015), or in identifying future STEM students (St. Pierre & Christian, 2002)? With this in mind, the designer of a STEM outreach program has to carefully consider what their objectives are, and how to measure them. Further work, especially long term studies, are needed to track the impact of STEM outreach programs to assess how students respond. Another challenge in STEM outreach is the selection of the proper personnel to run the actual outreach program. Minority and female students experience more difficulty in finding a mentor, even though they may have a greater self-expressed need for a mentor (Tsui, 2007). This is due to a preference for a mentor that may come from the same demographics as the mentee (Levine, Serio, Radaram, Chaudhuri, & Talbert, 2015). Given the existing gender gap in academia and industry, there may not be sufficient women to run all the STEM outreach programs that are specifically targeted at girls. Again though, there is ambiguity in whether to look for program leadership in the same demographic as the target audience, because there is a risk that this can lead to a stigma or feeling that women or minorities are being spotlighted when they are asked to participate in or to lead a targeted outreach event (Tsui, 2007). It is challenging to figure out how to balance the need to increase underrepresented populations, such as women and minorities, while not causing them to be seen as separate from the group. With this in mind, the next section looks specifically at the idea of role models, and how they can be effective. Role Modeling One of the most important impacts of STEM outreach programs is providing role models to younger students. Role models are vital in representing what is possible to achieve by showing that they have attained a level of success that the student hopes someday to emulate. As educators and professionals seek to encourage future STEM students through outreach events, it is important to understand that [r]ole models are often seen as a way of motivating individuals to perform novel behaviors and inspire them to set ambitious goals. In educational and occupational settings, this is especially true for members of underrepresented and stigmatized groups (Morganroth, Ryan, & Peters, 2015, p. 465). Underscoring the importance of role models is the fact that the lack of female role models is often cited as a reason that girls and women lose interest in pursuing STEM careers (Levine, Serio, Radaram, Chaudhuri, & Talbert, 2015). Returning to expectancy-value theory allows for several interpretations of why role models are effective in creating motivation in potential future STEM students. Looking at expectancy, or the perceived probability of success, students may assess their likelihood of success based off of internal or external factors. Internal factors are the individual s abilities, while external factors include the environment in which the individual operates (Morganroth, Ryan, & Peters, 2015). A role model can impact a student s perception of their individual abilities by reframing beliefs about the group they belong to. For example, a girl who believes she is not good at math because she thinks women are not good at math may revise her beliefs if she finds a female role model who is a strong mathematician. The same role model could also impact the student s external factors if the girl believes she is unlikely to succeed in STEM 6

7 because of sexist attitudes by showing that the role model has succeeded in the organization. In this second case, role models almost serve as an inoculation against harmful stereotypes that might exist in the STEM fields (Drury, Siy, & Cheryan, 2011). Ultimately, role models help to frame what is possible for women to achieve both as individuals and as a group, and set the expectation that women want to do well within STEM fields. Selecting the proper role model is dependent on the ability to develop a connection between the role model and the student. The connection that a student feels with the role model is key for recruiting and retention, with an emphasis on the perception of similarity between the role model and the students (Drury, Siy, & Cheryan, 2011). This does not imply that the role model and the student have to be from the exact same background but that the role models have to be relatable and willing to open themselves up. The students need role models that allow them to imagine themselves in the role model s position in the future (Tsui, 2007). Girls express an interest in role models that understand adolescent culture but are not pretending to be their same age, and feel more comfortable in an environment that is non-judgmental. Students want to know that their role models, as women in STEM, have interests and hobbies outside of the classroom or laboratory. The ability to perceive the role model as a multi-dimensional person balancing career and personal life helps to dispel negative stereotypes about the future if girls pursue a career in STEM (Mosatche, Matloff-Nieves, Kekelis, & Lawner, 2013). Different role models may be more or less effective depending on the goal of the particular STEM outreach program. Research shows a noted difference in the effectiveness of female role models for retaining women in programs who have already expressed an interest in STEM, but less of a difference in recruiting new women into STEM fields (Drury, Siy, & Cheryan, 2011). Understanding this difference allows for knowing which STEM outreach events will benefit from a push to have predominantly female role models, and which events simply need to make STEM appealing and change the perceptions of stereotypes that may serve as barriers to girls entering STEM fields. Impact at USMA As SWE and other student clubs and academic departments seek to support STEM outreach programs at USMA, it is important to develop understanding about why students may not choose to major in STEM fields, and why women are less likely to pursue these degrees than their male counterparts. By understanding some of the proposed reasons environment, exposure, and lack of role models outreach planners can ensure that STEM outreach programs address these concerns and support the local school systems. By recognizing the challenge of being role models for the younger generation, and understanding the need to tailor programs to the target audience, USMA is able to sponsors STEM outreach events developed with an understanding of why other STEM outreach programs have experienced success in resonating with the attendees. All STEM outreach events should be framed as part of a holistic program aimed at increasing participation in STEM majors. This means that when outreach coordinators set the goals for each outreach event, they need to understand what the overarching program goal is for that event, but they also need to include separate sub goals for outreach attendees and supporters. It is tempting to focus on our outreach efforts that focus on children from K-12, and ignore the impact that these events have on cadets as college age students. Cadet volunteers should also be viewed as an important sub group that will benefit from the event because of the chance to serve 7

8 as role models for the students and the other cadets. Early exposure to outreach events in cadets plebe year can help to shape their perception of what majoring in STEM will mean during their time at West Point, by providing them with upper class cadets as role models. The discussion of the positive impact of both male and female role models on recruiting students into STEM fields is also important to note, and suggests a benefit in actively recruiting all cadets to participate in SWE activities. An inclusive environment will help to have a positive impact on the reframing of stereotypes about STEM fields, and about the perception of women that are majoring in or working in these fields. Given the previous work that cited the influence of teachers and parents, these groups should be included in STEM outreach activities with efforts to ensure that these key influencers are aware of opportunities for their students. This is especially true when looking at STEM outreach events that invited students from outside the immediate West Point community since attendance at the event will require support from the parents to transport their students to West Point for the actual outreach event. Having informative activities planned for the parents will likely improve their satisfaction with the time commitment they have to make, and will also serve to benefit the students by informing their parents or other influential adults about opportunities and challenges associated with STEM programs, as well as taking the time to inform parents about the unique West Point experience. Given the lack of rigorous studies looking at the impact of STEM outreach events, there is an opportunity for further research at West Point. Suggested future work would include looking at a study focused on the outreach programs that exist here at West Point in order to understand the impact that these programs are having. Since the admissions office is tied in with several of these outreach initiatives, there is likely data on number of qualified applicants from an area before and after a local outreach event was conducted. It would be interesting to see if there is any statistical correlation to the number of applicants and the conduct of the outreach events. Furthermore, as USMA conducts outreach events, it is important to understand how the objective here tie into national organizations such as SWE. One of the stated goals of SWE is to show females of all ages that engineers work to solve real world problems and improve the quality of life for all. By demonstrating the impact that engineering can have on lives around the globe, engineering will be seen as a top choice of education and profession for women (Society of Women Engineers, 2016). These words echo the requirement to provide strong female role models who can help girls and young women visualize themselves in the profession, and to show how future work will have an impact. As cadets work to host future outreach events, SWE can prove to be a valuable external resource that will augment what is already provided through ODIEO and CLD STEM. Interaction with the local SWE chapters also helps to provide role models for the cadets through exposure to practicing engineers who work for a variety of public and private companies or for other non-profit or governmental agencies. In conclusion, the work done at USMA to support STEM outreach events are positive for many reasons. STEM outreach events are important in providing exposure to laboratory activities with hands-on experiments, and in providing interaction with cadets, officers, and other faculty who serve as potential role models. These activities contribute to the potential candidate pool for future STEM students, as well as exposing students to the challenges and opportunities of attending West Point. 8

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