STEMulating Interest: Encouraging Students to Embrace STEM Through Culturally-Relevant Activities (2015)

Undergraduate: Danielle Hunt

Faculty Advisor: Patrick Akos
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Previous research shows that by middle or high school, many minority students lose interest in subjects related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Studies report that this phenomenon occurs because by the time students reach these grade levels, youth are often placed on tracks for success that may be discouraging and thus cause less motivation towards performing well in these subjects. Consequently, there is a lower percentage of minority students who participate in schools that perform well in STEM compared to individuals of the majority race. The current practice integrates previously supported techniques such as helping students to establish relatable role models, discussion-based exploration of STEM and supporting the expression of creative strengths to positively impact self-confidence of fourth grade African-American female students and encourage interest in STEM subjects. This practice was designed in order to increase the number of African-American female participants in growing STEM-related career fields and help these individuals combat against the frequent sexism and cultural disconnection that usually acts as a barrier for students that fit the demographic of interest in these subjects.