From Opportunity Gap to Yield: The Benefits of OST Mentored Research for Youth in STEM

• In Event: Promoting Equitable Learning and Career Pathways in STEM Through Positive Youth Development

Abstract

The “Staying in Science” study, was designed to help us examine the nature of mentored research program participation and to follow a large sample of youth into college as they chose their majors.This study provides deeper insight into the importance of out-of-school learning, and to investigate the potential relationship between out-of-school time (OST) mentored research experiences and students’ pathways into STEM.

Participants. Youth from historically marginalized communities who participated in a mentored research program included: 81% are students of color, and almost half are multilingual . The findings in this paper were drawn from data from the first four years of our longitudinal study of youth who participated in an OST STEM mentored research experience. We are continuing to follow the trajectory of these participants, ultimately over the course of ten years. The youth participated in one of 24 different programs across New York City. The mission of these programs—part of a larger consortium—is to provide youth from communities that have historically been excluded or marginalized from entering STEM professions access to research internships that will support them in college and career pathways. This study is designed to follow the pathways of students who have had these research experiences. The first four years of our research design focused on the relationship between OST programs and persistence in STEM. The quantitative data shared in this paper represent a cross-sectional analysis of data from this larger study; and the qualitative data are drawn from yearly interviews we conduct with a sample of participants in this larger study.

Results Our longitudinal, mixed methods study explores the experiences of over five hundred youth in long-term mentored research experiences outside of school, paired with data on their reports of plans to pursue STEM. Our participants, youth from historically marginalized communities, represent the most promise for diversifying STEM: 81% are students of color, and almost half are multilingual. This paper shares an analysis of a cross-section of quantitative data collected from this large-scale study as well as qualitative data in the form of participant interviews. Drawing from our quantitative data, we find that in stark contrast to the opportunity gaps that youth like our participants encounter, participating in out of school research generates a ‘yield’ of opportunities to engage in science practices–significantly more than in school– and to contribute meaningfully to a science community of practice. Our qualitative data suggests that this ‘opportunity yield’ may also contribute to their continued pursuit of STEM. Taken together, these findings underscore the critical role that learning in out-of-school mentored research settings can play for students revealing its important, complementary role in a STEM ecosystem.

Implications. Our data show participating in out of school research generates a ‘yield’ of opportunities to engage in science practices–significantly more than in school– and to contribute
meaningfully to a science community of practice. This ‘opportunity yield’ may also contribute to their continued pursuit of STEM; we find over 76% of students who planned to major in STEM were pursuing STEM majors.

Author

• Karen Hammerness