This Pathways project will develop and evaluate a new model for a STEM career exploration program for at-risk Hispanic youth and their families in New Mexico where 46% of the population is Hispanic. The target audience includes Hispanic youth incarcerated in juvenile detention centers. The Hispanic Communications Network will partner with the Juvenile Justice Division of the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department, Youth Development Inc.; and Youth Works in Santa Fe. STEM professionals from Los Alamos and Sandia labs and private sector companies in New Mexico will participate as role models. The evaluation findings will add to the knowledge base about strategies to increase interest and engagement in pursuing STEM careers among hard-to-reach Hispanic audiences including low income families, gang members and incarcerated youth.
The project design includes using two main strategies: family evenings with STEM role models; and a social media and Facebook contest focusing on Green Jobs of the Future. The evaluation will use a mixed-methods approach for gathering data including brief questionnaires after the family evenings, pre-and past-activity surveys, observations, and telephone and online surveys. The evaluation will provide ongoing feedback to the project team on how well the strategies are working.
The project will hold 8 family nights, involve approximately 16 STEM professionals (role models), and projects about 16 edited media submissions by the youth teams. Toward the end of the project the evaluation will comment on the viability, efficacy and potential transferability of this model to other communities.
Intellectual Merit This project was a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Pathways grant. Such projects focus on the "design, development, and testing" components of planning activities and pilot/feasibility studies, in order to develop and test innovative work that is potentially on a path toward a major NSF-Advancing Informal Science Learning project (Research, Full-Scale Development or Broad Implementation). This project was led by the Hispanic Communications Network (HCN), the oldest and largest Spanish language educational media organization in the U.S., with vast experience communicating scientific and environmental information to Hispanics through social media and its national radio programs. The project tested whether it was possible to create an effective informal science education effort to improve broad-based knowledge about STEM among Hispanic youth, the fastest growing underrepresented segment of the national population, as well as increase the awareness of these youth to opportunities in STEM-related fields. HCN assembled a strong team with experience and expertise in educational media and evaluation, particularly Spanish language media, informal/free-choice learning and youth development. Broader Impacts A rigorous evaluation was implemented and through the diligent work of the Project team not only is it clear that this model is worthy of further study and refinement, but not typical of most Pathways projects, there are tangible products to be shared with youth across the country and potentially internationally. First, HCN Project Pathways Team members were able to develop programs and activities that appealed to a challenging and difficult-to-reach group: Hispanic youth, at-risk, primarily male, many of whom are currently or had previously been incarcerated. The Project team was even successful in their efforts to implement the program into a secure facility for incarcerated youth serving two populations: incarcerated youth in a day reporting program, as well as living temporarily in the secure lock-up facility. Youth were engaged, enjoyed the interaction with role models and felt that the program increased their understanding about the possibilities of STEM careers for them. In addition, the program facilitated some youths’ abilities to create their own media projects, products that are now shared with youth nationally and internationally. The most impressive of these products are a series of youth-produced videos and radio PSAs about STEM careers that currently reside on a tumblr website (http://pathwaystostem.tumblr.com). They also are broadcast by HCN on their 254-station radio network. Youth who were able to engage in this level of activity found the experience rewarding and leadership building and one could see the potential for impact on other youth who viewed these videos as evaluation findings demonstrated. There is certainly sufficient evidence that this project has potential for replication. The project team plans to build on this work through further development of program activities and evaluation strategies, so that the identified goals and objectives can be achieved in an expanded effort
