Project Profile

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by engaging in hands-on field experience, laboratory/project-based entrepreneurship tasks and mentorship experiences.

The project is designed to increasie the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) participation of middle-school aged girls across various out-of-school (OST) programs in a midsized racially and socioeconomically diverse community. The project will research and develop a program, building on the existing Digital Youth Divas (DYD) program model, that focuses on coding, designing digital devices (e.g., sensors, devices sensitive to touch), and digital arts and design and that will intentionally address areas that are of interest to girls. The project will collaborate with EvanSTEM, a collaborative of Evanston, Illinois, community organizations that offer STEM education activities, to create a community-led initiative learning initiative that combines STEM with the arts (STEAM). The project STEAM ecosystem will focus on three components: the DYD city collective that consists of out-of-school (OST) organizations that provide STEM programming for girls; DYD Caring Adult Network (a community of parents focused on supporting STEM activities among girls); and the Divas Circle (a community of 5-8th grade girls from across Evanston who participate in DYD affiliated programming and events). This project leverages collaboration with a local community of OST providers, parents, and educators to create a system of STEM learning opportunities, social supports and technical infrastructure.

The project will investigate several key research questions:

(1) How can middle school girls better connect with STEM learning opportunities and how can organizations more effectively coordinate their offerings and connect them to girls?
(2) What factors contribute to the creation of a local STEM ecosystem that engages and sustains girls' STEM interest and participation?
(3) How can parents (or other caregivers) be engaged in supporting girls' participation in STEM and what impact does their involvement have?
(4) What impact does participation have on family STEM identity and on girls' long term participation and interest in STEM activities and programs?

The project will use a variety of research methods and date collection including: school district data such as student course registrations; youth surveys assessing participation levels, interest, and impacts; online participation data that will reveal levels and patterns of involvement; interviews with students, parents, and providers; and case study data of a sample of participating families. The project will share research findings widely with the educational research community through academic venues such as professional conferences and journals and with practitioners through professional development workshops and by sharing resource materials and curriculum on the www.digitalyouthnetwork.org/divas website.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.