K-12 STEM Center's Monthly
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Team Newsletter
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'Tis the season to be jolly!
We are finally in the holiday season and while we take this time to express our gratitude and give thanks to those whom we appreciate in our lives, let us not forget to give ourselves that same joy and grace.
As the holidays are synonymous with all things happy and cheerful, on the flipside the holidays can also represent some of the most stressful times of our lives. Packages are arriving late, coronavirus has a new variant named omicron, gas could not be more expensive, and the sun sets before 5 pm. I mention this only to remind ourselves that while we do our best to spread cheer and give to others this season, just make sure that you also giving yourself that same gift of joy and patience. As happy as we can be during these times, we can easily be just as disgruntled and upset.
If you have been receiving this newsletter since its inception, you know that we the IDEA team, and the STEM Center deeply value equity and diversity both professionally and personally. Both individually and collectively as a cohesive staff, we are committed to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace, as well as ensuring the programs we offer to meet these expectations. You can get a snapshot of what we have done this last month to make sure we meet our commitment.
As always, please share and forward this newsletter to anyone whom you may think would like to know the work that the IDEA team is doing at the Center.
Fight on!
Anne Areta
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Computer Science Education Week at the K-12 STEM Center |
On December 4th, the USC K-12 STEM Center is Hosting their Annual CS Ed Week. On our website https://viterbik12.usc.edu/cs-ed-week/ you can find sessions for everyone! As part of the CS Ed Week team, Monica has communicated with all facilitators to provide meaningful and engaging workshops.
Monica is also planning a SHINE Holiday party in December to provide students with a space to take a well deserved break from college applications. SHINE students have been working diligently to submit their college applications! Monica will continue to support them this college application season by revising college essays and sending friendly reminders. She is also mentoring a two first generation college bound students through the application process.
Lastly, Monica is updating the SHINE 2022 Application to improve the processes for future applicants. She is also outreaching to local schools to increase the number of under-represented minorities in STEM to participate in SHINE. More information coming soon!
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Fall Fun Fair Turn Out from Last Month: |
The Fall Fun Fair hosted by USC student organization SWE and Mission Science Director, Jennifer Kolbauer mentioned in last month's newsletter was a big succes! On October 29th, over 20 students from 32nd Elementary Schoo participated in the event. Students had a blast making glow in the dark slime and making a static powered dancing ghosts!
For more information about SWE, click here
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Special GoldieBlox Event for Girls at our Mission Science Schools |
Society of Women in Engineering (SWE) hosts an event around the holidays each year that gives away a certain number of GoldieBlox engineering kits to a specific school. These kits are geared toward girls to encourage them to tinker and create more enthusiasm for engineering with guidance of a few female SWE members that will be helping them along the way.
Two of our Mission Science schools- Norwood and Gates Elementary, have been selected for this unique opportunity, which will reach over 60 girls between the two schools in just one day! Jennifer collaborated with Anne to ensure the flyer was inclusive and welcoming to girls and non-binary students of diverse backgrounds. Jennifer also worked closely with this student organization to ensure that this opportunity was offered in both English and Spanish.
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Expanding MESA's Catalina Island STEM Exploration |
Currently, MESA Academic Coordinator Alexandra Gutierrez has been applying for grants that would help support our goal of educating underrepresented and underserved students and families of our Center programs.
Looking for grants allows us to not only create new opportunities but also expand upon the opportunities we currently provide that have proven to be highly beneficial with an extended program or additional information and resources provided to students using additional funding in the form of grants. Alexandra has submitted her first grant proposal in an attempt to expand the Catalina Island STEM Exploration opportunity.
If funding is awarded, the current 3-day trip will be expanded into a year-long learning and teaching experience for students. The students will be able to experience the STEM projects at USC's Wrigley Science Center on Catalina Island and have the opportunity to visit a wetland preserve of Los Angeles allowing them to connect coastal life and witness the environmental issues directly impacting their neighborhoods. Students will then have the opportunity to present to their peers and families helping educate their communities of the impact of climate change.
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African American Initiative and LAUSD's Black Student Achievement Plan |
We have started a collaborative effort between LMU-UCLA-USC-LAUSD (42nd Street Elementary School) for LAUSD’s Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP). A 10 week-long collaborative pilot program for African American students in grades 3-5 is in the works to focus on these seven areas:
- STEM
- Financial Literacy
- Cultural Identity Development
- Entrepreneurism (Social/Business)
- Parent Engagement
- Community Leadership
- Developing Student Agency
Some actions from this plan have already gone into action. On Friday, November 12th, 42nd Street’s 4th and 5th graders came to USC for their first field trip since 2019 to meet NASA astronaut Dr. Resiman with the Liquid Propulsion Lab (LPL). 40 students got to launch rockets on campus with graduate students in the LPL program and Dr. Reisman even held a Q&A for the 4th and 5th graders. The day was a huge success.
To meet our entrepreneurship area, we have met with Miguel Cordona of GoalSetter this month and we have a guaranteed 16 parents who are interested in using GoalSetter with their children at 42nd St. Miguel is working on a flyer that will have the code for families to register and partake in GoalSetter’s training for the application. Thanks to Fiserv's funding, families and children will receive $40 for free once they download and sign up with GoalSetter. The plan is these 16 families will share that there is no hassle or gimmicks to receiving the $40, and encourage other parents at 42nd St to sign up for GoalSetter. We will record the first initial training so that other parents who were unable to attend can watch later on their own time and learn how GoalSetter works.
To learn about GoalSetter, click here.
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Suggested Reading for the Month |
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International Journal of Science Education |
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Science Self-Efficacy in the Relationship Between Gender & Science Identity |
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This study hypothesizes that a key explanation for why gender differences in science identity exist maybe that science self-efficacy is intervening in the relationship between gender and science identity. Surveys were administered to 964 first-year university students in the U.S. Science self-efficacy mediated the relationship between gender and science identity for heterosexual students, but not for non-heterosexual students. Whereas external factors that may affect gender differences in science self-concept perceptions should be considered, such as boosting females’ participation in science courses, the internal self-concept perceptions that individuals use to make decisions about STEM are of particular importance. The results of this study seek to help provide a better understanding of the roles that gender and sexual orientation play in science self-efficacy and science identity and hope that a better grasp of these relationships offers a step toward addressing the projected shortage of STEM workers.
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Journal of Experiential Education
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Effects of Research and Mentoring on Underrepresented Youths’ STEM Persistence Into College |
Authentic research experiences and mentoring have positive impacts on fostering STEM engagement among youth from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM. Using a longitudinal design, this study explored the impact of a hands-on field research experience and mentoring as unique factors impacting STEM-related outcomes among underrepresented youth. This study focuses on the high school to college transition, a period that can present new barriers to STEM persistence.
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Public Library of Science ONE |
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Multi-year science research or engineering experience in high school gives women confidence to continue in the STEM pipeline or seek advancement in other fields: A 20-year longitudinal study |
There remains a large gender imbalance in the STEM workforce deriving from a leaky pipeline where women start losing interest and confidence in science and engineering as early as primary school. To address this disparity, the Science Research & Engineering Program (SREP) at Hathaway Brown School was established in 1998 to engage and expose their all-female high school students to STEM fields through an internship-like, multi-year research experience at partnering institutions. We compare data from existing Hathaway Brown School SREP alumnae records from 1998– 2018 to non-SREP students and national datasets to assess how SREP participation may influence persistence in the STEM pipeline and whether SREP alumnae attribute differences in these outcomes to the confidence and skillsets they learned from the SREP experience. The results reveal that women who participate in the SREP are more likely to pursue a major in a STEM field and continue on to a STEM occupation compared to non-SREP students, national female averages, and national subsets. Participants attribute their outcomes to an increase in confidence, establishment of technical and professional skills, and other traits strengthened through the SREP experience. These data suggest that implementing similar experiential programs for women in science and engineering at the high school stage could be a promising way to combat the remaining gender gap in STEM fields
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The Journal of Negro Education |
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Being vs. Becoming: Transcending STEM Identity Development through Afropessimism, Moving toward a Black X Consciousness in STEM |
Research investigating Black student engagement in STEM postsecondary education connects their racial identity to STEM identity development and persistence. How Black students perceive and understand their Blackness in relationship to STEM learning environments to embody their identity; however, are not fully illuminated. This study presents insights from 44 Black undergraduate students studying STEM at a predominantly White institution (PWI). Using phenomenological focus group interviews, analyzed through the Afropessimist principles of the afterlife of slavery and anti-Blackness, the authors find that Black students’ rationale for coping mechanisms employed is shaped by individualism and Black collectivism. They name this rationale Black X Consciousness and provide implications for its importance in Black student STEM education research.
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Lastly, we at the Center want to give special thanks to Betty Lou Gross, Fiserv and James Carter Esquire, James Carter & Associates LLC for their support of the STEM Center's efforts to increase engagement and outreach of African American students.
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USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center | University of Southern California | Website
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