Thesis Defense by Kam Yee on November 20th
Space Studies master’s student, Kam Yee, will defend her thesis as follows. All Space Studies students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend. Please show your support!
When: Friday, November 20th at 9:00 a.m. (Central)
Where: Ryan Hall, Room 111
Title: STEM Education for Girls of Color: Organizational Practices and Cultural Responsiveness
About the topic: Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields struggle to increase recruitment and retention of girls of color. The dominant framework in STEM education is the pipeline which assumes girls in general lack motivation and interest to persist in STEM fields. Recent public discourse shifts to address institutionalized discrimination and systemic barriers in STEM culture that filter out underrepresented populations.
Informal education or complementary learning STEM programs offer alternative opportunities for students to explore outside of rigid school academic and social systems. Few articles look specifically at STEM complementary learning programs, and even fewer focus on the effects on girls of color. This research is a quantitative study to categorize existing mission statement and training behind organizations that provide STEM programs. The results will provide a better understanding of the relationship between practices of STEM education organizations and the programs they create. Diversity training and inclusive language in mission statements did not correlate with increased cultural responsiveness in the program offerings. The results suggest organizations must be more intentional and explicit when implementing diversity goals.
About the presenter: Kam Yee is currently a Space Studies graduate student in the University of North Dakota’s distance learning program. She lives in Seattle, Washington. She has a decade of experience in K-12 and community outreach in aerospace science. Kam believes all fields of studies can relate to space and it takes an interdisciplinary approach to achieve goals in space exploration. Kam loves creating innovative ways to incorporate space into education programs to promote scientific literacy.
Kam is an alumna of the University of Washington Bothell and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences with a focus on Science, Technology, and the Environment. She also hold a minor degree in Human Rights. As an immigrant and first-generation college student, she is a strong advocate for youth to reach their dreams through science education.
******Those unable to attend in person may view the live webcast******
1) A live webcast which includes PowerPoint slides will be available here. Please note: this option is currently not operational on portable devices/tablets.
2) A simple live webcast is also available here.
3) Via Adobe ConnectPro. Sign in as a guest, or use your Connect-Pro log-in.