Latina SciGirls promotes middle-school-age science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) identity development. A Twin Cities Public Television project, SciGirls included episodes in Spanish, showing Hispanic girls and their Latina mentors investigating culturally relevant science and engineering problems.
On August 26, 2015, the National Science Foundation’s Division Of Research On Learning announced a multi-year grant to the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which funds innovative resources like Latina SciGirls that showcase Hispanic communities in the United States, representing various cultural backgrounds and ethnicities.
According to the NSF, there is a need to address specific barriers that prevent many Hispanic girls from participating fully in STEM activities. These barriers include lack of STEM identity (girls’ perception of themselves as scientists or engineers), limited exposure to STEM role models, and low parental engagement and English proficiency.
Hispanic women are the largest group of minority females, constituting 8% of the United States, however, the participation of Hispanic women in science and engineering makes up just 2% of all of the scientists and engineers in the workforce.
Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) disseminated research and evaluation findings at American Education Research Association conferences, as well as National Science Teachers Association events, and at www.InformalScience.org.
The NSF said evaluation and research about the factors that influence Hispanic girls’ STEM identity development will contribute to the field’s understanding of this subject and the larger efforts of broadening minority women’s participation in STEM.
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