“…you ask most young kids to name you a famous scientist or engineer, and if you’re lucky they’ll name you Albert Einstein. And then you’d ask them to name you a living one and they’re usually dumbfounded… that’s the reason we created the program, because we wanted to create a new set of role models in science and engineering.“
Larry Bock, Founder of the USA Science & Engineering Festival
People relate to people more than organizations or careers. This is clearly evident by looking at social media. Walmart, a world-wide retailer has almost 3M followers on Instagram while a celebrity, such as Beyonce, has nearly 300M. By connecting a career to a role-model and their STEM story, students are more able to relate and envision themselves in that field of STEM.
X-STEM normalizes diversity in STEM and society as a whole. To effectively change a cultural narrative it is vital to not only encourage under-represented participation, but also to role-model diversity.
Role-models encourage ongoing curiosity and discussion around STEM topics. They are sharing not only about their career but their STEM journey, overcoming obstacles, persevering through disappointments, and the joy of accomplishment. This opens the door to more varied discussion with STEM at the center. Many X-STEM role-model speakers are active on social media providing a platform that continues to stimulate the STEM journey for students.
X-STEM role-models are not just speakers. They are part of a carefully curated group of STEM role-models that students can follow and continue to learn from.
Learning about careers through storytelling offers students a real-world context of STEM topics and connects exciting career opportunities to world issues students are passionate about.
Students connect to science through hands-on workshops provided by local organizations they can become involved with to keep the momentum going.
