Image
Improving educational attainment has long been known to reduce poverty and improve the health of individuals, their families, and entire communities.
Image
In today’s world, careers in STEM are thriving and make up a significant part of the workforce. Multiple studies have found African American students’ interest in STEM subjects is particularly low, especially during the early stages of the learning process (i.e. third grade level). Contributing to this challenge is the underrepresentation of people of color’s contributions to the STEM fields. It has been demonstrated that students are more likely to take an interest in areas where they see role models "who look like them."
Image
DCL at Duke's digital STEM program, Techies4Tomorrow®, addresses this missing link through a new digital learning tool designed to spark interest and excitement in STEM courses. The subject matter is aimed at students reading at the third through fifth grade levels. The software includes animated stories about accomplished African American STEM professionals whose life stories teach various aspects of the curriculum. While the focus is on young people of color, T4T appeals to a broad audience and all ethnicities benefit from learning more about the contributions of African Americans to STEM fields and gain a more comprehensive picture of American society.
Loading...
Addressing a Community Social Justice Need
The economic vibrancy of our community and, indeed, our whole country, relies on the contributions of all its citizens. We need the talents of each person to be developed to their maximum ability. We need scientists and mathematicians and doctors to enable our society to meet the needs of its present and, especially, its future.
“The achievement gap is a problem not only for African American students and their families and communities; it affects the well-being of the entire country. Researchers have found that “the persistence of the educational achievement gap imposes on the United States the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession” (McKinsey & Company 2009, 6). In 2019, Blacks made up 11% of the U.S. workforce overall but represented 9% of STEM workers. Among employed adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, Blacks were just 7% of the STEM workforce (Encouraging Diversity…, 2019).
Additional financial support is being sought to ensure the success and expansion of this project, thereby increasing educational attainment initially in Durham, NC and then broadly throughout the state and country.
Techies4Tomorrow® is a registered trademark of DCL at Duke.