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Using Parent Leadership to Engage Latino Families in Informal STEM Education

Sat, April 14, 10:35am to 12:05pm, Pan Pacific, Floor: Lobby Level, Crystal Pavilion C

Abstract

The goal of Watsonville Tecnología-Educación-Comunidad (WTEC) is to build community capacity and support to create career pathways in information technology (IT) for underrepresented Latino youth. There are two key strategies: 1) a bridged-intensives model of after-school youth programming and 2) an eco-developmental approach involving parents and families, older youth, community leaders, school, teachers/staff and IT professionals . As part of the second strategy, WTEC’s model of parent engagement and leadership (PEAL) supports the out-of-school program by creating a strong network of community support for STEM education, while enhancing parent capacity to understand and utilize computers. In this roundtable, we will share the strategies being used, the challenges, how they have been addressed, and some research findings on how families are changing and how to engage Latino/a parents in STEM education.

A main effort in the PEAL component is the Community Leadership Committee (CLC), which includes 8-10 parents, students, school personnel, and community members. The goal of the CLC is to increase community understanding of the importance of IT education and to take increasing ownership of WTEC. The CLC is involved in fundraising, shaping and running monthly parent workshops, supporting weekly parent IT classes, and hosting family activities. The monthly workshops aim to foster a sense of identity in the mission of WTEC, and to increase parents’ interests and ability to support their child on the path to higher education in STEM. Weekly open computer labs allow students and family members to access information about their students’ classes, as well as to learn skills such as email, power point, and web design. These weekly labs are co-run by school staff, WTEC staff, CLC members, and undergraduate volunteers from a local university.

Engaging families is difficult, and the success of our efforts is due primarily to the strong connections that were built with the school administration and other key school staff (e.g., a parent educator), and to offering activities that leverage the strong commitment of these families to their child’s education. Data are being collected to offer a window into how to recruit and engage families in STEM education. To date, we have held seven workshops, which were attended by 113 parents (32 parents attended 2 or more workshops). Surveys of 41 family members show that the majority desire programming that will better prepare their children in the pursuit of higher education and IT skills. However, interviews with 6 family members show that when asked about career paths for their child, they are more likely to describe well-known careers that have a high status in their community: doctor, lawyer, police. Data are still being collected and analyzed, and will show the developmental progression of parents from showing up, to building their own capacity with technology, to seeing the value of a STEM career for their children. In addition, interviews with the CLC members are being used to show what characteristics of members (demographics, expertise, and motivations) help or get in the way of developing an effective STEM education leadership team.

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