Who is Under Represented in STEM?

One of my ex students, who I met after 15 years, took me out for street food and shared over dripping curry, “Having you as a math teacher made me go for math. For my family felt that girls do not need to do math but your attitude of impartial support to all of us, made me confident in my ability to do math.” I did not know that this is the impact I had on her. I made a girl move to math and be open to a future that involved math!

Issues faced by students from areas underrepresented in STEM can be addressed through intentional program design (Lyon et al, 2012). Hence I were to do this as a process, I would start with a challenging problem and then tie it to the standards used to teach (Niehoff, 2018). This problem can be an area of connect for the females and students of colour. Everyone cares about their collective safety and futures (Niehoff, 2018). But the ones most vulnerable to it are women and students of colour. They will design and define a problem pertaining to violence in the area in particular or a state in general.

One of the most important skills needed is to work collaboratively. So I would have students in groups, mixed gender and colour and use technology for collaboration, that is all tools used to make life easier and better (Jolly, 2014). As the students work together to define and solve the problem, I am hoping that they would rise above the differences and find a common ground.

Most importantly, I need to explore my own thoughts. Tackling the STEM gender bias can also warrant some self-reflection on the part of teachers (Berwick, 2019). It starts with a belief that all kids can learn STEM. My own self reflection and self belief would be the most powerful motor to build the project on.


References

1. Berwick Carly. (2019, March 12). Keeping girls in STEM: 3 barriers, 3 solutions. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/keeping-girls-stem-3-barriers-3-solutions

2. Jolly, A. (2014). Engineer a great middle school STEM curriculum. Retrieved from https://www.middleweb.com/13942/engineer-great-middle-school-stem-curriculum/

3. Lyon, G.H., Jafri, J., & St. Louis, K. (2012). Beyond the pipeline: STEM pathways for youth development. Afterschool Matters, 16, 48-57. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ992152.pdf

4. Niehoff, M. (2018). 7 real-world issues that can allow students to tackle big challenges. Retrieved from http://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/03/7-real-world-projects-that-allow-students-to-tackle-big-problems/