2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Leveraging community partnerships is a powerful strategy to increase diversity in STEM education opportunities, as it allows for the pooling of resources, expertise, and networks to create more inclusive programs. By working together with community organizations and businesses, higher education institutions can expand access to underrepresented groups in STEM, such as women, minorities, and economically disadvantaged students. One key benefit of these partnerships is that they enable the creation of programs that are tailored to the specific needs of a community or research project. In the case of the STEM Center at SIUE, we were able to use our partnership with the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois and their well-established extension and outreach efforts to offer our engineering curriculum specifically to BIPOC girls in areas with low performing schools and high poverty rates.
Our partner was able to secure community-based funding to provide materials and staff for a four-week series on careers in engineering for girls in the East Saint Louis and Cahokia school districts in southern Illinois. Their staff are not trained on offering STEM curriculum and creating assessments. The staff at the STEM Center were able to develop an in-class series of activities highlighting careers in engineering for girls in k-7th grade. Future plans for this curriculum include refinement and creating kits for the Girl Scout staff to utilize in other schools.
In addition to addressing access issues, community partnerships can enhance the quality and relevance of STEM education by incorporating real-world applications and mentorship from professionals in the field. Partnerships with universities and research institutions can expose students to advanced STEM topics and cutting-edge technologies, helping to bridge the gap between K-12 education and higher education. These experiences are particularly important for students from underrepresented groups, as they may not have as much exposure to STEM careers in their personal networks. Seeing professionals from similar backgrounds succeed in STEM can have a profound impact on students’ aspirations and sense of belonging in the field. In our program, it meant bringing graduate and undergraduate students in engineering into the classrooms with our outreach staff to talk about what they studied in elementary school, what they were interested in and what they want to do with their engineering degree.
Community partnerships between universities and youth organizations can lead to sustainable and long-term initiatives that continually support diversity in STEM. For example, by supporting existing afterschool programs, summer camps, and mentorship networks, university partners can provide enrichment beyond the traditional classroom setting. These programs help students develop the critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills necessary for success in STEM fields. Additionally, many community organizations are able to secure funding and resources that schools alone might not be able to access, such as grants from private foundations or corporate sponsorships. This additional funding allows for the development of high-quality programs that are both scalable and sustainable.
In the long term, we hope that our community partnerships can play an advocacy role, promoting policies and practices that foster greater inclusion in STEM education. Through joint efforts, partners can advocate for systemic changes, such as curriculum reform, teacher professional development, and the implementation of culturally responsive teaching practices. These changes can make STEM education more equitable and accessible to all students.
Leveraging community partnerships is a crucial strategy for increasing diversity in STEM education for higher education institutions. By combining resources and expertise, these partnerships can address both the structural and cultural barriers that prevent underrepresented students from pursuing STEM, creating more equitable and engaging opportunities for all.