Representation in STEM Matters

Dr. Darin Gray, Director, University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering K-12 STEM Center

Dr. Darin Gray, Director, University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering K-12 STEM Center

Have you ever seen an ugly car and thought, “How did that happen?” Have you ever wondered “Who thought that was a good idea?” after watching offensive commercials such as the body wash commercial that implies that brown skin is unclean, or the candy bar commercial that suggests that men kissing isn’t manly, or the commercial that intimates that an influencer with a soda can assuage the anger resulting from the death of Black men in police custody? In those instances, like-minded people from similar lived experiences made those business decisions. So, what’s the harm? A car has poor sales. People may be rightfully upset, but no one got hurt. What does this have to do with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)?

In the STEM fields, representation matters not only for providing opportunities for aspiring STEM professionals of color, but also in their everyday life. Imagine if an Artificial Intelligence driven algorithm, programmed by like-minded people from similar lived experiences, was used by banks to determine creditworthiness, or by policy makers to determine return on investment for public resource allocation, or hiring departments to screen resumes? What if facial recognition software, created by like-minded people from similar lived experiences, was used in the criminal justice system? What would happen if medical decisions and treatments were based on a particular demographic and implemented on the entire population? How much harm would be done if the safety performance of a car didn’t include factors such as wear and tear of potholes and urban stop and go traffic? In each of these and many other areas of STEM, the lack of inclusion, diversity, equity and access (IDEA) can have detrimental consequences for people historically underrepresented in STEM such as racial and ethnic minorities, women, people who are LGBTQ, people from different religious and cultural backgrounds, persons with disabilities, and people with lower socio-economic statuses.

Representation in STEM matters because of the tremendous role that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics play in our everyday lives. Without IDEA in STEM, well-meaning STEM professionals develop products and services that may unintentionally cause harm for those not included in the consideration of the product or service. Representation in STEM matters because innovations, which can make the world a better place, that could come from people with different lived experiences are never realized. Without IDEA in STEM, discriminatory policies, practices, and procedures that impact people’s lives are more likely to persist. Representation in STEM matters to serve as a bulwark against intentional misuse of STEM products and services as instruments of oppression.

"Representation in STEM matters because of the tremendous role that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics play in our everyday lives."

What does representation in STEM mean?

Representation in STEM includes and is much more than inclusion, diversity, equity, and access in the STEM workplace and in institutions of higher education. It also means opportunities for elementary, middle, and high school students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM being exposed to authentic STEM experiences as a part of their formal education. It means making STEM culturally relevant and responsive to the needs of communities with people historically underrepresented in STEM. It means providing accessible pathways for STEM careers for people historically underrepresented in STEM. It means providing lifelong STEM learning opportunities for people historically underrepresented in STEM. It means ensuring that people historically underrepresented in STEM have STEM knowledge and STEM literacy as well as the opportunity and power to make decisions that impact their life, health, freedom, and financial wellbeing.

How does it happen?

STEM needs to be integrated across the curriculum in the elementary grades. In middle school, project based learning with hands-on experiences, peer collaboration, and mentoring need to augment but not replace didactic teaching in the STEM field. In high school, students need to have opportunities to conduct real-world STEM research using the scientific method, and to use problem based learning and the engineering design process to propose solutions to real world problems.

Where does it start?

Too often, ideas for educational innovations in STEM are left on poster papers after brainstorming sessions and gallery walks. What is needed to evoke change is collaborations between many sectors in STEM. The STEM Learning Ecosystems (https://stemecosystems.org/) spread across the country offer unique opportunities and spaces to “make it happen”. They facilitate collaboration across the STEM sectors of informal education, formal education, higher education, industry, and career technical education. Through STEM activities, teacher training and professional growth, professional development for informal STEM providers, collaborations with Industry and STEM professionals, internships for STEM students and STEM mentors, the STEM Ecosystems can play an important role in providing IDEA to people historically underrepresented in STEM .

The views expressed in this article are those of Dr. Gray and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Southern California or the Viterbi School of Engineering.