In learning environments where belonging is prioritized, K-12 students demonstrate high academic motivation, and their identities and experiences are affirmed through culturally responsive teaching practices.1 Joy and belonging have been shown to play a role in preparing students for future careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and across other fields.2 Recognizing the importance of belonging in academic learning and engagement, the U.S. Department of Education hosted the YOU Belong in STEM conference in 2022 as a key component of the “Raising the Bar: STEM Excellence for All Students” initiative, both of which emphasize “joyful STEM learning” and “a sense of belonging in rich and rigorous classrooms” as priorities to improve student outcomes.3 The YOU Belong in STEM effort encourages schools, districts, state and local governments, and organizations to work together and leverage federal resources so that they can meet student and educator needs to grow the STEM fields. The conference was born, in part, through the recognition that underrepresented groups—including Black, Hispanic, and Native students as well as girls and students with disabilities—have been excluded from STEM.4
Disparities in STEM education manifest across the entire cradle-to-career continuum, from pre-K-12 through higher education.5 In a technologically advancing world, where education technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly expected to become a part of learning and the workforce, it is essential to ensure that all students have equitable access to STEM education.6 Inclusive STEM education helps students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills as well as scientific and computational literacy, which are essential to understanding and using digital tools efficiently.7
A lack of access to STEM courses in K-12 education disproportionately affects Black, Latino, and Native American students8 as well as girls9 and students with disabilities.10 These barriers can reduce students’ likelihood of pursuing STEM majors in college.11 Conditions that contribute to such barriers include funding inequities, educator bias,12 and racialized tracking—assigning students to courses based on perceived capability to succeed, leading to inequitable access to advanced STEM courses.13 Over time, these barriers contribute to the underrepresentation of these populations in the STEM workforce, which is inclusive of jobs in engineering, health care, and mathematics professions, as well as physical and computer sciences.14
The National Science Foundation’s 2023 biennial report on diversity in the STEM workforce in 2021 showed:15
- Women made up only about one-third of STEM workers, despite making up half of the U.S. population. (see Figure 1)
- Hispanic workers made up 15 percent, Black workers made up less than 10 percent, and Native American workers made up less than 1 percent of the STEM workforce. (see Figure 2)
- The proportion of STEM workers with a disability did not significantly change from 2011 to 2021. (see Figure 3)
While pathways to success can vary by student, there are concrete tools that actors across the cradle-to-career continuum can leverage through policy to become architects of joy and belonging.
While pathways to success can vary by student, there are concrete tools that actors across the cradle-to-career continuum can leverage through policy to become architects of joy and belonging to ultimately increase representation, persistence, and success of underrepresented groups in STEM.
Recommendations for policy and practice
1. Start early
Differences in exposure to math and science concepts can lead to disparities in STEM achievement that begin to appear in early childhood.16 Reaching students early and feeding their curiosity is one way to promote engagement in STEM. While some experts suggest exposing students to rigorous STEM courses such as Algebra I and computer science in middle school, others argue the importance of reaching students even earlier.17 This can mean exposing children to math and science concepts as early as pre-K.18
Potential strategies that teachers and other staff members can employ to engage students early in STEM include bringing age-appropriate STEM language into the classroom, modifying lessons to incorporate STEM activities, and getting families involved.19 While reaching students early is crucial, it is important to encourage active parent participation as a way to build a home-to-school connection in a child’s STEM education.20 Building engagement at young ages can help foster the idea that joy, belonging, and STEM all go hand in hand.
2. Integrate the arts and project-based learning
In the classroom, STEM does not have to consist of simply worksheets with numbers and diagrams. Lessons can and should incorporate hands-on learning with real-world applications whenever possible.21 This can help students connect what they are learning to other subjects they are studying as well as to the world around them. An example of this kind of real-world application can be seen in ethnomathematics, a strategy that brings math and culture together in the classroom to bring STEM problems to life for students.22 For instance, teaching students math by discussing farming patterns of culturally significant foods allows them to connect to the lesson by drawing their own conclusions based on their lived experience.23 This strategy demonstrates how highlighting the intersection of multiple subjects can allow students to keep making connections throughout their learning.
Encouraging the inclusion of the arts in STEM—that is, making it “STEAM”—can garner interest, spark creativity, and build confidence. Making models of the solar system, designing Rube Goldberg machines to demonstrate chain reactions, or creating self-sustaining terrariums are all examples of STEAM because they actively incorporate artistic skill and overall creativity into STEM learning.24 Two Bit Circus Foundation’s STEAM Lab Makerspaces, the majority of which have been implemented in schools receiving Title I funds, illustrate how to incorporate art into STEM through hands-on learning that includes sustainable materials and tools to facilitate exploration.25
Thinking about STEAM in this way also helps to include populations that do not always see themselves in STEM spaces. Girls are 6 percent more likely to report their teachers having used creative methods in their STEM lessons, and those methods can be used as a way to engage young girls and prevent loss of interest.26 Incorporating art into STEM has also been seen to increase access for students with disabilities by serving as a vehicle to increase motivation and facilitate problem-solving.27
3. Invest in STEM educators
State policymakers should prioritize building a pipeline to attract, prepare, and retain STEM educators through partnerships across sectors, including K-12 and higher education, workforce agencies, technology companies, and community organizations. Having a strong cadre of STEM educators will improve school districts’ ability to offer more STEM courses.
According to a 2024 report released by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), public schools with higher populations of Black and Latino students were less likely to offer STEM courses, often required for STEM college majors, such as advanced mathematics, calculus, chemistry, physics, and computer science.28 American Indian or Alaska Native and Black students are the least likely—32 percent and 47 percent, respectively—to attend high schools offering a variety of mathematics, science, and computer science courses.29 Without STEM educators to provide a range of courses, students of color, students with disabilities, girls, and students in underresourced schools will continue to have limited access to rigorous STEM knowledge and experiences.
It is important for states and local communities to assess the health of their STEM pipeline and work together with community partners to ensure that underrepresented student populations have clear pathways to succeed in the field. This includes providing strong pathways for educators to specialize in STEM.
4. Expand enrichment opportunities
Discovering joy and belonging in STEM does not have to be limited to school hours or the school year. Summer and after-school programs are great opportunities to engage underrepresented students. Middle school girls that participated in STEM clubs or activities are more than twice as likely to want to pursue physics in high school and nearly three times as likely to want to pursue engineering.30 Meanwhile, in some cases, STEM summer programs have increased graduation and college attainment rates for Black and Hispanic students while also making them more resistant to the challenges that can cause students to leave STEM fields.31 Black Girls Code (BGC), an organization that expressly values joy and belonging, serves as an example of a program that provides free tech programming outside of the classroom.32 BGC partners with schools, businesses, and local organizations to provide free tech programming primarily for young Black girls, so that they can see themselves in tech, a field where only 2 percent of positions are held by Black women.33
In order to break down barriers for students, it is important to not build more barriers in the process. This means that these programs should be funded to allow students who are low income to benefit. The following examples detail federal funding sources that can be leveraged for summer learning34 and after-school STEM programming.35
Title I, Part A: Grants to Local Education Agencies
Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is a federal grant program that seeks to close achievement gaps by providing funding to local education agencies with a high number or proportion of students from low-income families.36 In addition to supporting STEM coursework and increasing access to technology, Title I can expand after-school and summer learning opportunities for students.37
Title II, Part A: Supporting Effective Instruction
Title II, Part A of the ESEA is focused on supporting effective instruction through investments in educators, principals, and other school leaders and their professional development.38 Professional development for educators can take place both during the summer and after school39 and can include coaching during out-of-school time programming to improve their teaching and classroom management skills.40
Title IV-A: Student Support and Academic Enrichment
In addition to authorizing activities around student health and safety, Title IV-A of the ESEA authorizes activities that promote a well-rounded education, including STEM instruction, and the development of education technology.41 This means that these dollars can be used to fund activities related to these goals, including summer and after-school programs.42
21st Century Community Learning Centers
The Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program is the only federal program that exclusively provides funding to local out-of-school time programs, including before-school, after-school, and summer learning programs.43 Community centers in high-poverty and low-performing schools operate outside of traditional school hours to ensure students are meeting state and local benchmarks in core academic subjects, including STEM.44
Child Care and Development Fund
While the primary purpose of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is to assist low-income families with child care costs,45 the program also supports access to out-of-school time enrichment opportunities for school-aged children under age 13.46 The National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment provides training and technical assistance to state, territory, and Tribal CCDF lead agencies to expand equitable access to high-quality after-school and summer learning opportunities for low-income children.47
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a flexible federal block grant that supports low-income families with children through cash assistance as well as other supportive services.48 Given the flexibility of the program, some states, such as Tennessee, have been able to use these funds for after-school49 and summer learning programs,50 though this can come at the cost of having less available for other underfunded TANF services or assistance.51
5. Center culturally responsive teaching and inclusion
According to research by the Pew Research Center, about 4 in 10 Black adults with at least a high school degree recalled incidents of being treated like they could not understand a subject, being made to feel that they did not belong, or hearing repeated negative racial comments in school.52 In STEM classrooms, a sense of belonging can make a positive difference when it comes to performance, retention, and persistence for Black, Latino, and Native American students.53 One way that educators, policymakers, and other K-12 stakeholders can center inclusion is by promoting the use of culturally and historically responsive education that helps students see themselves in what they are learning.54 A common misconception is that culturally responsive teaching singles students out, when, in reality, it helps to promote a culture of high expectations that maintains that all students are capable of success.55
Students cannot be expected to thrive or feel joy and a sense of belonging in spaces that do not account for their individualized needs.
Students with disabilities have also historically faced major obstacles in STEM, including inaccessibility of facilities, materials, and programming.56 Another way to center inclusion is to be intentional about addressing these concerns. States and districts can increase accessibility by ensuring that classrooms themselves are accessible to students and that students are connected to assistive technology tools that are appropriate for them.57 Across underrepresented groups, students cannot be expected to thrive or feel joy and a sense of belonging in spaces that do not account for their individualized needs.
Conclusion
When working to strengthen pathways to success for underrepresented communities in STEM, it is important to make space for joy and belonging. STEM education is not only solving complicated equations or memorizing abstract formulas; it is also learning how to design video games, raising butterflies to learn about their life cycles, and figuring out what it takes to build a roller-coaster. STEM education is essential to preparing future innovators. Teaching students how to think critically, innovate and problem-solve in a tech-driven world will require a national and state-level commitment to STEM education. This includes investing in programs, STEM educators, and learning environments that will afford girls, students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities the same opportunities as their peers. While STEM education can be a gateway to a college degree and career in STEM for underrepresented students, it is important that they feel confident, safe, and supported enough to access these opportunities.