Promoting STEM Interest in Middle School Girls through Strategic Engagement with College Student Mentors

Kathleen Smits; Michelle Schwartz; Nathaniel Steadman

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Community Engagement Division Technical Session 1 - STEM Outreach
Page Count: 20
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40449
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40449
Download Count: 323

Paper Authors

biography

Kathleen Smits The University of Texas at Arlington

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Kate Smits is a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Prior to UTA, Kate was an associate professor at Colorado School of Mines from 2010- 2018 and the U.S. Air Force Academy from 2004-07. Proudly she served as a civil engineer in the U.S. Air Force, including various deployments and is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Kate’s research interests are focused on energy and the environment with applications to natural gas leakage, the clean up of contaminated soils and waterways, and the storage of renewable energy. Much of her research looks toward the development of social-technical systems and models to better understand such systems. Kate earned her B.S. in environmental engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy, M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, and PhD in environmental science and engineering from Colorado School of Mines.

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Michelle Schwartz The University of Texas at Arlington

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Michelle Schwartz is a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. She received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 2017 and her M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 2018. Michelle’s previous research covered numerous topics including the effects of temperature on soil moisture probes, middle school students’ perceptions on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and natural gas leak detection methods. Her current research is on how contaminant perception of artisanal and small-scale mining at different spatial scales influences environmental response and how engineers can work with that information to co-develop socio-technical responses to environmental pollution.

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Nathaniel Steadman The University of Texas at Arlington

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Nathaniel Steadman is an M.S. student at the University of Texas at Arlington studying Environmental Engineering. He worked previously as an undergraduate research assistant on communicating scientific knowledge to developing communities and underground natural gas migration. He graduated from UTA in 2020 with his B.S. in Civil Engineering and obtained his EIT certification in 2021. His current research looks at sustainable remediation and the inclusion of environmental justice principles to better apply these frameworks to developing countries. He will be graduating in August 2022.

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Abstract

Research on gender differences in career interests has found that by adolescence, girls are reported to be less interested in science and engineering than boys. The leaky pipeline is a popular simplified metaphor to describe the reasons for the observed gender disparity, slowly removing potential candidates from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as they age through the academic system. Although numerous formal and informal programs have been developed to “plug” this leak with role models, what is not well understood is the potential role models’ effect on student’s STEM attitudes over time. To address this limitation, a long-term continuous mentoring and tutoring program was developed for a local middle school in [CITY, STATE] in partnership with STEM focused college students at [UNIVERSITY NAME]. The goal of the program was to understand the influence of STEM centered activities and mentors on middle school girls’ self-identified STEM attitudes. The program included the revamping of a currently operating science club, one-on-one mentoring, science and math tutoring, and the development of mentor-protégé relationships that was observed to benefit not only the middle school students but also the college mentors. The program did not require the students to apply for any of the services and had access to a diverse group of primarily STEM female mentors. Over the two year period, students participating in the program and a control group of non-participants were surveyed using an amended S-STEM survey developed by the Friday Institute for Engineering Education at North Carolina State University. The general student body’s perceptions decreased over time towards STEM between 6th and 8th grade for both boys and girls; girls had lower STEM attitudes when compared to their male peers. Girls who participated in the program over the course of at least two semesters saw an increase in their STEM attitudes while those who did not participate saw a decrease over the multiple semesters of surveys. Exposure to STEM through general enrichment opportunities did not show a measurable correlation with interest and participation in STEM. Rather, the biggest indicator of STEM interest was access to STEM role models either at home or through access from the enrichment programs. Findings from this work confirm the selection of role models involved in mentoring is vitally important when promoting STEM in education outreach programs.

Citation
Format

Smits, K., & Schwartz, M., & Steadman, N. (2022, August), Promoting STEM Interest in Middle School Girls through Strategic Engagement with College Student Mentors Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40449

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Research on gender differences in career interests has found that by adolescence, girls are reported to be less interested in science and engineering than boys. The leaky pipeline is a popular simplified metaphor to describe the reasons for the observed gender disparity, slowly removing potential candidates from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as they age through the academic system.  Although numerous formal and informal programs have been developed to “plug” this leak with role models, what is not well understood is the potential role models’ effect on student’s STEM attitudes over time. To address this limitation, a long-term continuous mentoring and tutoring program was developed for a local middle school in [CITY, STATE] in partnership with STEM focused college students at [UNIVERSITY NAME]. The goal of the program was to understand the influence of STEM centered activities and mentors on middle school girls’ self-identified STEM attitudes. The program included the revamping of a currently operating science club, one-on-one mentoring, science and math tutoring, and the development of mentor-protégé relationships that was observed to benefit not only the middle school students but also the college mentors. The program did not require the students to apply for any of the services and had access to a diverse group of primarily STEM female mentors. Over the two year period, students participating in the program and a control group of non-participants were surveyed using an amended S-STEM survey developed by the Friday Institute for Engineering Education at North Carolina State University. The general student body’s perceptions decreased over time towards STEM between 6th and 8th grade for both boys and girls; girls had lower STEM attitudes when compared to their male peers.  Girls who participated in the program over the course of at least two semesters saw an increase in their STEM attitudes while those who did not participate saw a decrease over the multiple semesters of surveys. Exposure to STEM through general enrichment opportunities did not show a measurable correlation with interest and participation in STEM.  Rather, the biggest indicator of STEM interest was access to STEM role models either at home or through access from the enrichment programs.  Findings from this work confirm the selection of role models involved in mentoring is vitally important when promoting STEM in education outreach programs. 


AU  - Kathleen Smits
AU  - Michelle Schwartz
AU  - Nathaniel Steadman
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Promoting STEM Interest in Middle School Girls through Strategic Engagement with College Student Mentors
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/40449
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--40449
ER  -