STEM for everyone!

Jasmin Çolakoğlu, Anneke Steegh & Ilka Parchmann

STEM education does not only take place at school. Germany offers a variety of informal STEM activities, such as those offered by museums and learning labs, as well as vacation and support programs. However, when it comes to STEM education, many children from marginalized groups, i.e., those who experience less visibility and privileges in society, often do not feel addressed or welcome in this extracurricular area. Often, this is due to the prevailing culture and stereotyped expectations in STEM contexts. Here we present selected research findings that show how informal educational opportunities can be designed to empower underrepresented target groups - e.g. girls, young people from low socio-economic backgrounds, and children with diverse ethnic backgrounds - to strengthen their identities, feel a sense of belonging in STEM environments and offer them the opportunity to develop their identities independently and in a self-determined way.

Informal education programs want to and should reach as many children and youths as possible, regardless of their economic and social background. Attracting this heterogeneous target group for STEM programs poses certain difficulties for the organizers. Many of these offers, such as those developed at the IPN, create the impression they are not intended for children from non-academic households. As one principal of a comprehensive school put it aptly: “You always think: IPN and research institute - oh God! That's for grammar schools, upper secondary levels or something like that.”

Who belongs to STEM?

The perception that informal STEM activities are only designed for secondary school students highlights a fundamental problem: although many STEM activities are theoretically open to everyone, in practice there are systemic barriers that exclude certain groups. STEM environments are often characterized by a culture of masculinity and elitism, which makes it particularly difficult for girls, youth from low socio-economic backgrounds and youth with diverse ethnic background to feel welcome in these settings. It's not that these groups have no interest in STEM. Rather, the problem is cultural: STEM is often perceived as an environment for a specific, historically shaped type of person - predominantly white, male, heterosexual and academic. People who can identify with (at least a large part of) these characteristics are also more likely to feel that they belong to STEM and therefore find it easier to identify as a “STEM person”. Those who cannot identify with these prototypical characteristics easily feel they do not belong.

Our research therefore addresses the question of how the educational environment and, in particular, informal educational opportunities can be designed so that they appeal to marginalized students and enable them to feel comfortable in the STEM world and develop a so-called STEM identity. To do this, we focus on the identities of these children and young people and examine key contexts that may influence their identity development.

Programs ought to be practical, hands-on-oriented and authentic to foster personal connections

According to our research, a holistic design of STEM opportunities is crucial to reaching marginalized groups and positively engaging them in activities. Holistic means that the design of STEM offers should not only focus on individual aspects such as content or activities, but also on all relevant factors affecting the STEM identity formation of marginalized groups. This includes, for example, social and emotional support. In one paper, we analyzed various research studies on international informal STEM education programs for underserved groups and developed recommendations for action. As a result of this analysis, we were able to identify key concepts that were important for STEM identity formation. In essence, the aim is to design programs to be accessible to everyone right from the start.

Practical, hands-on-oriented activities, authentic contexts and the fostering of personal bonds - both between participants and with role models and educators - are important. It becomes apparent from the analysis that the positive development of STEM identities is based on several key concepts supported by appropriate practical approaches. As such, making students recognize that they have STEM knowledge and skills plays a crucial role. This includes both the understanding of basic concepts and the ability to apply STEM-specific skills and terminology in practical situations. Learner-centered, hands-on activities, experiments and authentic STEM contexts should be provided to foster these aspects.

Recognition as a STEM person is also important. This recognition refers to individuals recognizing themselves as part of the STEM community and having their identity in this field recognized by others. Relationships between participants should be fostered to achieve this, both with each other and with mentors. It is also important to explicitly enable and support non-stereotypical behaviors and lifestyles in STEM to encourage diversity in identification.

A sense of belonging to STEM is a further key aspect. This refers to the feeling of being accepted and integrated in the STEM community. A sense of belonging can be strengthened by building positive relationships both between the participants and with the mentors. Participants should also be offered role models who support their identification with the STEM field. Finally, agency and the development of values and attitudes play a decisive role. This refers to the ability and right of individuals to independently make active decisions and carry out actions relating to their own learning and the pursuit of personal goals. Learner-centered, hands-on-oriented activities, role models and authentic STEM contexts are important to strengthen this ability to act and promote autonomy and support participants in their decision-making.

In another study, we interviewed children, parents, teachers and those responsible for an informal STEM program developed and implemented by the IPN. The aim was to understand how marginalized children develop their identities in an informal STEM context and how the resources in their environment helped them to do so. The results show that children develop their identities in different ways and place value on different identity concepts, such as a sense of belonging, recognition or values. It turned out that the children actively decided which resources were particularly important to them and best suited their concept of identity. For some, a sense of belonging in the form of interaction with others was of great importance, which is why they often interacted with their peers. These social contacts contributed positively to their identity formation, as they effectively utilized the resources they needed. Others, however, placed more emphasis on acting according to their own convictions. They had made a conscious decision to use the STEM program as a platform to pursue their values, which also supported their identity development.

There was no uniform pattern - each child interacted differently in the STEM context, depending on their personal identities and needs. However, all children felt that they were able to develop freely in different contexts and felt a certain sense of agency. This can be achieved by involving children in the co-creation of school or informal STEM contexts.

This diversity shows that flexibly and adaptively designed STEM educational opportunities can meet children's diverse needs. Our research suggests that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for specific groups of people and that you cannot create highly individualized offerings for specific types. Instead, it helps to design educational programs holistically with room for adaptivity to address different identities and needs.

Conclusion

A lack of interest on the part of underserved groups in STEM programs is not the reason why they are not taken up by everyone. Rather, we must admit that there are features of a STEM culture that exclude certain people. To make informal STEM programs accessible to everyone, educational programs must take into consideration the identity aspects of their target groups. Simply offering exciting content is not enough - how it is delivered and whether participants can help shape the program are important.

A supportive environment is also important. The ability of educators to reflect is particularly important: Existing power relations and stereotypical expectations must be examined and space created for diverse behaviors. This is the only way to create a STEM environment in which everyone feels welcome and valued.

About the authors:

Jasmin Çolakoğlu (she/her) is a research scientist and doctoral candidate at the IPN Department of Chemistry Education. She primarily focuses on questions of diversity and how to reach underserved groups in STEM. She focuses on children and youths from low socio-economic backgrounds, children with diverse ethnic backgrounds and on girls. colakoglu@leibniz-ipn.de

Dr. Anneke Steegh is a postdoctoral research scientist at the IPN in the Department of Chemistry Education. She conducts research on STEM identity and marginalized identities in STEM education. steegh@leibniz-ipn.de

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ilka Parchmann is Professor and Director of the Department of Chemistry Education at the IPN. parchmann@leibniz-ipn.de

Further literature:

Çolakoğlu, J., Steegh, A., & Parchmann, I. (2023). Reimagining informal STEM learning opportunities to foster STEM identity development in underserved learners. Frontiers in Education, 8, Article 1082747. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1082747