Building students' interest in STEM subjects begins in grade school. Connecting minority students to STEM mentors from similar backgrounds can ignite curiousity and love of learning.
By Malibu Kothari

Public attention has been turned to the underrepresentation of minorities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) occupations, even though global figures on diversity in STEM are difficult to find. Scientific American tried to gather data in 2014, finding then what is true now: Minorities, as defined by each country, are not pursuing STEM careers in numbers reflective of their representation in the various populations.

Most of the recent focus has been on encouraging women to pursue higher education degrees in STEM disciplines and breaking down barriers to employment and career progression. However, research conducted by academia, government agencies, and nonprofits have discovered that increasing the number of minorities and women in STEM higher education and the workforce begins with children in lower grades, and they need mentors.

Mentoring provides role models, bringing a scientist, engineer, technology professional or mathematician to life. Mentoring is especially effective when the mentor is a minority just like the students they encourage.

Seeing is Believing
As minority faculty in institutions of higher education, employers, and groups began to delve into the issue of minority underrepresentation of colleges and universities, they realized that recruiting students into STEM programs is an end step in a process that should have begun when the students were in grade school.

Some students are drawn to STEM, but many more cannot envision themselves as scientists or engineers. STEM professionals are mostly white males. Even women (of all colors) have long been underrepresented because they saw themselves as teachers and nurses, and not as NASA scientists or technology innovators.

Mentoring is a "seeing is believing" approach. That is the philosophy of Juan Gilbert, chairperson of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department at the University of Florida. He goes into elementary-school classrooms to talk about his work in computer science, purposely choosing topics that are fascinating to children. In one example, he talked about flying drones with brainwaves. He firmly believes that role models are powerful, making it easier for children to see themselves in positions like Gilbert's.

Role models can also erase the stigma that often accompanies STEM careers. The stigma is that – except for technology jobs – scientists, engineers and mathematicians tend to have somewhat boring job responsibilities. This is far from the truth. Having role models who design unique bridges and buildings, develop innovative healthcare equipment, develop new algorithms for apps for the disabled, design new engineering strategies for environmental protection, develop new pharmaceuticals for diseases, and fly drones with their brains, can dispel the myth that STEM careers are uninspiring and "not cool."

Tackling the Issues
The EU STEM Coalition was developed because Europe found it was not keeping pace with the demand for STEM skills for a couple of issues. One, graduates in STEM fields did not have the problem-solving and communication skills that employers needed. Also, students viewed STEM subjects as unappealing or too difficult.

The STEM Coalition addresses these problems in several ways. One is to foster children's interest in math and science. A suggested strategy is to build alliances between educators, government, employers, and other partners to determine the skills needed and to utilize professionals to inspire four-out-of-10 students to choose STEM studies. Another important group is the European Schoolnet, which is a nonprofit network of 31 European Ministries of Education focused on bringing innovation in teaching and learning to schools, teachers, Ministries of Education, researchers, and industry partners.

There is a need for 1 million new researchers by the year 2020, if Europe is to keep growing. As the innovative educational EDU-ARCTIC project points out, STEM is an acronym that brings together four disciplines that work in an integrative manner to bring about solutions to social and scientific challenges. One of the important changes the many organisations and projects like EDU-ARCTIC want to bring about is for students to stop viewing STEM careers as reserved for the intellectual elite.

Mentoring Can Move the Dial to Progress
Mentoring plays an important role in the ability of Europe (and all other countries) to meet its labour skills needs. One of the teacher practices mentioned in the EDU-ARCTIC report that is critical to promoting student interest in STEM is for the teacher to be an inspiring leader and role model for students. The teacher should be enthusiastic and positive about what students are learning.

In selected national practices to encourage STEM, the EU inGenius strategic project is listed as one of the largest strategic projects in science education that is funded by the European Commission. The inGenius project addresses two challenges: the lack of interest in STEM subjects and future skills gaps. The innovative practices listed include meeting real-life STEM professionals and dealing with stereotypes. Mentoring by real-world minority STEM professionals can demonstrate to minority students that they can develop interesting careers and not be held back by stereotypes.

Initiatives to guide students into STEM subjects and eventually STEM careers increasingly rely on the participation of employers. BusinessEurope stresses that firms should provide the context for science studies by providing positive role models from STEM occupations in order to challenge negative perceptions of STEM careers. Greater participation of STEM professionals in the schools can help link learning and work. inGenius is an umbrella center for a variety of school and business partnership programs designed to increase interest in primary to upper secondary school-level students in STEM.

Mentoring is recognized as a critical strategy for encouraging all young students, including minorities, to take an interest in STEM subjects. Mentoring requires alliances and partnerships between employers and schools. It is quite possible that one of the reasons minority students have not taken as much interest in STEM studies as non-minority students is because the employer-school link has not been cultivated over the past two decades.

All the excellent projects building mentoring relationships will surely move the dial to progress. The future of Europe's economic success depends on it, and that is no exaggeration.