Education department hosts YOU Belong in STEM National Coordinating Conference in Washington, D.C.

 

POSTED ON Jan 02, 2023

 

On December 7, the U.S. Department of Education held a National Coordinating Conference on STEM Education to launch the department’s YOU Belong in STEM initiative. The conference engaged more than 1,000 people in-person and online, according to the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ATSC), one of the many organizations that participated in the event held in Washington, D.C.

The YOU Belong in STEM effort is meant to convene the entire STEM education enterprise—including government agencies, non-governmental and community-based organizations, and leaders across the public and private sectors—to come together to help advance STEM education in the United States.

According to ATSC, the education department has received commitments from more than 180 organizations (including ASTC), which together include more than $20 million in investments that will impact more than 10 million students. In addition, many of these commitments target efforts to serve populations traditionally underrepresented in STEM, including students of color, girls, and low-income and rural communities.

Participants at the YOU Belong in STEM conference included representatives from the California Academy of Sciences, the Center of Science and Industry (COSI), Columbus, Ohio, Explora, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, the National Girls Collaborative Project, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the New York Hall of Science, the STEM Next Opportunity Fund, Afterschool Alliance, Burroughs Welcome Fund, Digital Harbor Foundation, Techbridge Girls, and SHPE.

According to Mariana Acuña Delgado of SHPE, it has been ten years since the U.S. Department of Education gathered in a conference setting with stakeholders from around the country to discuss advancing STEM education equity in America. Before this conference, SHPE was part of preliminary conversations about the importance of belonging in STEM and was asked by the Department of Education to participate in the initiative’s commitments towards ensuring that all students from PreK to higher education can excel in rigorous, relevant, and joyful STEM learning.

SHPE set the following goals: The Destino STEM program will engage and inspire over 7,500 Hispanic youth to pursue STEM degrees and careers in 2023. The Equipando Padres (Equipping Parents) program will serve over 750 parents in 2023. The scholarship program will serve over 325 students with over $1.8M of financial support in the 2022-23 academic year by lowering the financial burden of higher education and showing them that the STEM industry and their SHPE Familia are invested in their future.

The YOU Belong in STEM initiative includes three priorities identified by the Department: Ensure all students from PreK to higher education can excel at rigorous, relevant, and joyful STEM learning; Develop and support our STEM educators to join, grow, and stay in the STEM teaching profession; Invest in STEM education strategically and sufficiently using American Rescue Plan and other federal, state, and local funds.

The Department encouraged the community to look through the lens of the following elements: Equity & Belonging, Measurable Impact,
Outcome-Oriented, Force Multiplier, Transparent, Time-Bound.

TODAY: Join us for our YOU Belong in STEM National Coordinating Conference – a key Biden-Harris Administration initiative to implement and scale equitable, high-quality STEM education for all students. Watch live at https://t.co/xJNRgfvT8v pic.twitter.com/PJ9cOsZz4L

— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) December 7, 2022

From astronauts to STEM educators to STEM advocates, we're raising the bar on STEM excellence for all students. It’s vital to ensure all of our students have the support, pathways, & inclusive, engaging contexts they need to understand that they belong in #STEM. pic.twitter.com/TBVKsXOOlI

— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) December 18, 2022