Developing a Research Action Agenda for Assessing the Long-Term Impacts of STEM Programs for Girls

收集青年方案对他们参与STEM学习和职业的长期影响的证据仍然是一项挑战，特别是对于在发展的早期阶段(例如小学、初中、高中)进行的方案干预。重点关注缓解这些挑战的机制的工作很重要。会议和相关活动旨在建立一个植根于实践的研究行动议程，以支持更好地了解非正式STEM方案对女孩的长期影响，以及衡量这些影响的方法和途径。项目团队将采用合作共同设计的方法，建立女孩STEM研究联盟。联盟将包括三个级别的参与者，不同级别的承诺：一个由8-10人组成的核心规划小组(CPG)，大约20-25名参与成员(PM)和50-60名利益攸关方小组代表(SGR)。项目团队将利用面对面的会议、数字参与战略和调查来制定议程，并征求多轮反馈和意见。CPG由国家女孩合作项目(NGCP)的州STEM女孩组织的领导人和代表以及纽约州女孩STEAM合作组织的成员组成，将负责设定优先事项和指导行动议程。总理将包括参加州级合作的文化机构的非正式STEM项目的代表(教育工作者和研究人员)。将定期就行动议程中与其工作有关的重要方面征求首相的意见。最后，SGR将包括由参与成员服务或与其合作的几个受众的代表：女孩和年轻妇女、父母、教育工作者、资助者、研究人员和雇主。秘书长将通过焦点小组或在这些个人参加的国家会议上参与。为支持在该部门工作的专业人员更广泛地参与，将制定一项利用网络和社交媒体网络的全面数字参与计划。该计划将使用一致的标签，允许参与者在社交媒体平台上关注对话。将利用的社交媒体平台包括Twitter、Instagram、Facebook、LinkedIn、Google+、Snapchat等。超过6万人将通过NY STEAM Collaborative、NGCP、WSKG公共媒体和项目合作伙伴的网络参与进来。一个强有力的研究行动计划将使研究人员进一步探索非正式STEM教育经历在塑造女孩职业选择方面的作用，并确定在通往STEM大学和职业的希望之路上哪里有中断。它还将使非正式的STEM组织受益，因为它提供的信息将帮助他们微调针对女孩和年轻妇女的计划。归根结底，对知识库的贡献将导致女孩和妇女更广泛地参与STEM方案和职业。这项工作由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，作为其战略的一部分，旨在加强非正式环境中的学习，支持创新研究、方法和资源在各种环境中使用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Gathering evidence for the long-term impact of programs for youth on their involvement in STEM studies and careers continues to be a challenge, especially for program interventions happening in earlier stages of development (e.g., elementary, middle, high-school years. Work that focuses on mechanisms for mitigating these challenges is important. The conference and associated activities aim to build a research action agenda that is rooted in practice to support better understanding of the long-term impacts of informal STEM programs for girls, along with methods and approaches for measuring them. The project team will use a collaborative co-design approach to establish a STEM for Girls Research Alliance. The Alliance will include three levels of participants, with different levels of commitment: a core planning group (CPG) of 8-10 people, approximately 20-25 participating members (PM) and 50-60 interested stakeholder group representatives (SGR). The project team will utilize face-to-face meetings, digital engagement strategies, and surveys to develop the agenda and solicit multiple rounds of feedback and input. The CPG, consisting of leaders and representatives from state-based STEM for Girls organizations that are part of the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) and members of the New York State STEAM for Girls Collaborative, will be responsible for setting priorities and guiding the action agenda. The PM will include representatives (educators and researchers) from informal STEM programs at cultural institutions that participate in the state-based collaboratives. The PM will be regularly consulted on important aspects of the action agenda that relate to their work. Finally, the SGR will include representatives from several audiences that are being served by or work with the participating members: girls and young women, parents, educators, funders, researchers and employers. The SG will be engaged via focus groups virtually or at national meetings to which these individuals attend. To support broader involvement of professionals working in this sector, a comprehensive digital engagement plan using web and social media networks will be developed. The plan will utilize a consistent hashtag, allowing participants to follow the conversation across social media platforms. Social media platforms to be utilized will include Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Snapchat and others. More than 60,000 people will be engaged via the networks of the NY STEAM Collaborative, NGCP, WSKG Public Media and project partners. A robust research action plan will position researchers to further explore the role of informal STEM education experiences in shaping the career choices of girls and identify where there are breaks in the hoped-for pathways to STEM college and careers. It also will benefit informal STEM organizations by yielding information that will help them to fine-tune their programs for girls and young women. Ultimately, contributions to the knowledge base will result in broadened participation of girls and women in STEM programs and careers. This work is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program as part of its strategy to enhance learning in informal environments and support innovative research, approaches, and resources for use in a variety of settings.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.