What makes high school students want to become interested in science, technology, engineering, and math? And what motivates them to pursue careers in these fields known collectively as STEM? Three Northeastern University faculty members in the Graduate School of Education have received a grant from the National Science Foundation to answer these intriguing questions.
The research will focus mainly on women and underrepresented minorities, which are groups that are disproportionately employed in the fields. In the US scenario, women held only 24 percent of STEM jobs in 2015. The solution back then was to attract more students from these groups that could help fill a demand for qualified workers in the STEM fields highlighted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics which in 2017 projected 2.6 million job openings.
To facilitate the research, the Northeastern researchers will study an educational program that is implemented in most schools that prepares students for their careers. Students who attend this program try out fields that interest them and that are in high demand. Students work on projects that are similar to what they would be doing as employees in those industries. The program helps students identify the fields they might want to continue exploring in college and after graduation. Each student in the program selects one topic to focus on per semester. Areas of focus are bioscience, engineering, healthcare and medicine, human services, a combination of business, technology, and media, and entrepreneurship.
The main aim of the research is to see how well the program prepares students for careers specifically in STEM. This data then can be analysed and used to evaluate similar programs in other schools in the United States. “As we’re thinking about growing and really scaling it in K-12 and in higher education, we want to look at a model more closely to understand how it is actually working pedagogically, and how is it leading students to be more interested in STEM and pursue STEM careers,” says Corliss Thompson, associate teaching professor at Northeastern University who is leading the study. “I’m really excited about what that could mean in terms of the next iteration of our model and staying out on the cutting edge,” says Corey Mohn, who leads the experiential learning program.
Anisha Naidu
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