Building and Bridging Across Borders: An HBCU-Community-Based Partnership to Expand STEM Access through the Ventaja Panamá Study Abroad Program

• In Event: AER Roundtable Session Friday 1:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Inclusion, Transnationalism, and Pedagogical Innovation in Africa and the Caribbean

Abstract

Aligned with the theme “Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures…” this proposal examines an international STEM education initiative in its eighth year in Panamá, centered on equity and social justice. The research employs a descriptive design that blends autoethnographic narratives with empirical data from volunteer teachers and U.S. study abroad students from a Texas HBCU. Framed by Bandura’s self‑efficacy and Dweck’s mindset theory, it reveals participant transformations from fixed to growth mindsets via vicarious experiences and social persuasions. Guided by Appreciative Inquiry and Transformative Learning theory, it reimagines a future in which university–community partnerships redesign educational access for underserved communities. It offers a model of global education grounded in local strengths, reflection, and practice that fosters inclusive, cross‑cultural STEM engagement.

Authors

• Beverly A. King Miller, Prairie View A&M University

• Kay Coates, Georgia Southern University

• Myltazaire Crayton, Prairie View A&M University

• Douglas M. Butler, Prairie View A&M University

• Nina Cooper, University of New Mexico