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National Science Foundation study on inclusive STEM schools

June 23, 2016

by Mike Feder, Director of STEMx

STEM schools can be a vehicle for creating equity, setting high expectations, and an education that prepares kids for the 21 st century world.

As STEM advocates, we believe in these schools. But data matters just as much as our beliefs. When parents and policymakers want more than the beliefs of educators, what are the best ways to demonstrate the merits of our work?

Sharon Lynch, professor at George Washington University, has been working on exactly this problem. She is the Principal Investigator for a project on inclusive STEM high schools that has produced in-depth case studies on some impressive schools across the U.S. Lynch is also co-PI on the iSTEM study, directed by Barbara Means of SRI International, that looks at the impact of STEM schools at large scale. Both studies were funded by the National Science Foundation, and together provide a picture of the exciting potential of STEM schools.

Dr. Lynch and her team identified eight high-quality inclusive STEM schools. They built a deep qualitative study of key features across those schools.

The studies are immensely detailed, and would serve as a great resource for those studying STEM. They detail the look and feel of a school from the perspectives of students, teachers, and administrators.

Don’t miss the video interviews the team created, either. Through these, you can hear from students themselves about what STEM education meant to them.

For me, as a former researcher, it’s so important that Lynch and Means didn’t stop at case studies. In North Carolina and Texas, The iSTEM team scoured reams of state testing data to see the measurable impact of these schools.

By combining qualitative and quantitative work, we get to see both the structure and the impact of STEM. This does many things, but critically it validates the different frameworks of STEM schools across several states, demonstrating the variety of STEM implementation at these high schools.

These are meaningful stories that bring great education to life. It’s exactly what we need to grow the influence and impact of STEM.

The comprehensive guide to the study from Dr. Lynch and her team is published at http://inclusivesteminsights.sri.com/

Celebrating the 2023 STEM Innovation Forum

By Rob Evans • November 1, 2023
by Heather Sherman, Director of STEMx The 2023 STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce was a success! Through our collaboration with STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors, we convened 160 leaders from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and education institutions from all over the United States to discuss strategies and best practices to support the STEM workforce. We were honored to host a variety of dynamic speakers including: Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Dr. Athina Kanioura, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, PepsiCo and Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (RoX). We extend our gratitude to our panelists, Learning Session speakers, and participants who joined us in Denver. Broadening participation We set out share information on trends in STEM education and workforce development, with an emphasis on broadening participation in STEM careers. Resources from sessions highlighting strategies for broadening participation are linked below: DoD STEM: Developing a STEM Workforce to Support the National Security Mission Priming the Pump for High Demand STEM Careers STEM Workforce Readiness for Teen Girls: “If She Can See It, She Can Be It” Driving change Another goal of the forum was to feature high impact strategies, programs and solutions that are driving change, and STEMx members from LASTEM , the PAST Foundation and MBRT showed how they are engaging youth and building career awareness through their workforce programs. Emerging technologies We looked towards the future to better understand how emerging technologies will change the world and the ways we must prepare STEM talent for jobs in logistics, artificial intelligence, research safety , bioenergy , and renewable technologies. Chevron‘s sponsored panel, “Cultivating the Talent to Drive the Innovation and Technologies for Ever-Cleaner Energy” was a rich discussion featuring experts from Chevron, Project Lead the Way and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Dr. Jamie Vernon, Executive Director, and CEO, Sigma Xi Society was a fantastic moderator for this discussion. Next steps We have linked event resources including videos, slide decks and collateral on the event landing page . The event photo gallery is located there as well. If you attended, please complete our 30 second event survey . Five lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a Forum water bottle! More importantly, your feedback matters to us. If you did not attend, mark your calendar for next fall - we’re looking to make next year even bigger! If you are interested in hosting in your state, or have thoughts about compelling content that we should include, please reach out to Heather Sherman .

STEM Innovation Forum: Agenda and New Sponsors

By Rob Evans • October 3, 2023
Join us for The STEM Innovation Forum: Activating Collaborations to Advance an Inclusive STEM Workforce
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