PGE/LCP: Girls in the System (Sustaining Youth in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)

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Girls in the SYSTEM (Sustaining Youth in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)A. Project Summary. Five departments of the University of Arizona and the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council have forged a partnership to create a three-year project to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for girls in grades 3-8, especially Mexican American, Native American and economically underprivileged girls in southern Arizona. The partnership connects two groups with significant experience working with girls and minorities as well as with educators in STEM and represents a crucial linking of informal and formal education for this target population. It adopts a holistic model connecting the educational system with its broader social context. The project builds on research and past efforts in three significant ways: by emphasizing home and community connections; by uniting university educators, inservice teachers, preservice teachers, and Girls Scout troop leaders; and by linking the following program components:1) After-School and Summer Programs are designed to stimulate and nurture girls' interests in using methods of inquiry to enhance their understandings of STEM. They will take place at sites established by the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council. While after-school programs will be for girls exclusively, mixed gender settings will be incorporated into summer programs to allow all participants, youth and educators, to benefit from interacting in a gender equitable context. Both programs will engage youth in the use of challenging, hands-on activities that support and expand their abilities to solve problems using the tools of scientific investigation and their natural curiosity about how things work. Inservice and preservice teachers (formal educators), Girls Scout troop leaders (informal educators) will facilitate the after-school and summer programs collaboratively.2) Professional Development Workshops will be offered for formal and informal educators. These will provide opportunities for work with innovative educational resources that will increase participants' knowledge of STEM and provide instructional ideas for their work with youth. The workshops will foster collaboration and promote mentoring relationships between these groups of educators. They will also focus on issues of equity in STEM, on uses of alternative pedagogies, and on educational bridges between home, school and careers.3) Workshops for Parents and other family members will serve to strengthen their roles as legitimate partners in the education of their children, especially of their daughters. The workshops will actively engage family members in STEM activities and apprise them of ways of supporting the academic preparation of their children. In addition, discussions and career panel presentations will inform parents of the long-term implications and benefits of succeeding in STEM and of the institutional and societal obstacles that minority children often face in participating in STEM.4) Leadership Development Opportunities will be offered to adult participants to allow them to take leadership in extending the project's impact. Mini-grants and equity internships will enable them to develop activities such as study groups, mother-daughter STEM events, and presentations to other interested community groups.5) Research created by means of the project evaluation will add to the sparse knowledge base on STEM education with Mexican American and Native American girls.