Experiential learning: making STEM more attractive to students of colour

Suitable for 14-19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 Geography and PSHE and is also internationally relevant.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• The number of STEM-related jobs available is increasing, at a faster rate than the number of students making STEM-related education choices – particularly in areas such as computer science, which are growing the fastest. There is a shortage of STEM-prepared students in general, but especially for females and some students of colour. This teaching resource explains the work of Dr Corliss Thompson from Northeastern University in the USA. Corliss is investigating ways to attract more students of colour into STEM – a sector that would benefit hugely from diversity.

• This resource also contains an interview with Corliss about her career path. If your students (or you) have questions for Corliss, you/they can send them to her online. All you need to do is to go to the article online (see the Futurum link below), scroll down to the end and type in the question(s). Corliss will reply!

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Corliss’ research and challenges them to think about diversity and inclusion.

• The PPT reiterates the key points in the article and includes separate Bloom’s Taxonomy talking points.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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