Intellectual Merit: Techbridge and the Chabot Space and Science Center will undertake a Scale-Up Diffusion of Research-Based Innovation project called Role Models Matter. The project will supply customized training, guidance and support for role models at partner organizations--Society of Women Engineers, Girl Scout councils, and the National Girls Collaborative Project--to increase and improve the quality of STEM outreach to girls in K-12 education. The goal is to provide customized resources, training, support, and follow up for 2,200 role models to conduct outreach with approximately 87,000 girls over five years. This Scale-up is based on a proven model and resources that show evidence of increasing and improving role model outreach in engaging girls' interest in STEM careers. The project will enhance resources, allow for customization and follow up for deeper impact within three national organizations that offer STEM programs/outreach for girls. The project will be run by an experienced team with members from multiple organizations that bring extensive expertise in working with role models and girls, professional development, STEM programs, partnership support, business development, and evaluation. The Partner groups have been carefully selected and are well-suited to the project's scale-up model to help ensure quality of delivery and promise of sustainability. In addition, this scale-up project will follow up with partner organizations to document and evaluate the customization of its resources on the frequency and impact of the partners' outreach. Finally, cyberlearning tools will expand the scope and reach of this project to help scale up and sustain the project's impact nationally.
Broader Impacts: The Role Models Matter project will have broad long-term impact through working with national partner groups to help role models engage, expand, and inspire girls in STEM careers. This coalition of partnerships will bring together girl-serving organizations with role models to promote and sustain widespread quality role model outreach. In addition, the best practices and lessons learned in scaling up and program sustainability will be disseminated broadly to a national audience of STEM professionals, corporations, researchers, practitioners and policymakers through publications and conference presentations. Such visibility will also serve to leverage community and national support.
