The STEM Public Outreach Team (SPOT) at the University of Washington Bothell (UWB) provides training and community building opportunities for diverse STEM students that impact their persistence in STEM majors and careers. The University of Washington Center for Evaluation and Research for STEM Equity (CERSE) evaluated the experiences of SPOT…

Molecular School (MS) is an extracurricular initiative intended to show relevant and complex concepts of chemical sciences to precollege students. The main goal is to motivate the participants to expand their awareness of chemical sciences and to acknowledge its relevance in everyday life, in order to stimulate the students to engage in chemistry…

Despite ongoing efforts to increase diversity in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEM) fields, disparities persist. MYHealth Summer Launch is a virtual, out-of-school STEM outreach program aiming to increase participation of historically marginalized students in health research to develop researcher identity and…

Gender bias, reduced sense of belonging, and lower physics self-efficacy are among the challenges faced by women who choose to study physics. Prior studies focusing on this underrepresented group have examined the experiences and impacts of formal educational settings, leaving the impact of informal physics programs, frequently called outreach…

A case study demonstrating how an online narrative featuring the adventures of a cuddly toy penguin, Pablo Penguin (@uoppenguin on Twitter) has been introduced at the University of Portsmouth Library to build trust and engagement between university students and library services and facilities. Evidence for the benefits of anthropomorphic brand…

Consistent evidences outline a global increase in enrolment of young people in higher education. Nevertheless, the under-representation in higher education of students of low socio-economic status ("SES") is still evident. The current study reports the results of a follow-up that has been conducted among 198 former Israeli high-school…

A strong feature of the widening participation agenda is improving the aspirations of groups that are underrepresented in higher education. This paper seeks to reposition the utility of this as a focal point of educational interventions by showcasing the success of a mentoring program that takes a different approach. The Australian Indigenous…

Expanding and diversifying the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce is a national priority. The National Science Foundation is investing efforts at post secondary education institutions to engage individuals who have been historically underrepresented in STEM. This paper investigated the use of strategies to broaden…

Before graduate school, before his undergraduate degree, before community college, all throughout K-12, this author was considered an "at-risk" student--at risk of dropping out of school. During those early years, he took note of the things that seemed unjust and now he directs his academic work toward engaging at-risk students and…

Based on Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory, this study examines the impact of an individual's motivation in pursuing higher education towards university service quality perception, with the individual's learning style posited as the moderator of the proposed relationship. The consequent effects upon satisfaction and behavioural intentions…

Teaching Opportunities for Partners in Science (TOPS) is an outreach program using volunteers (the "partners") for: 1) assisting teachers in grades K-8 with preparation and delivery of science and engineering (S&E) lessons in the classroom; 2) providing content knowledge to teachers when needed to teach quality science and…

A stocktake of issues and activities in vocational education and training in schools through the perspectives of the published literature and policy documentation between 1997 and 2003 is the subject of this report. It identifies progress made and concludes that vocational programs in schools are meeting expectations and have achieved a legitimate…

Describes the Conditional Acceptance Program (CAP), an intervention program geared towards underprepared, underachieving entering college freshmen. Identifies key program components while establishing the primary theoretical basis or rationale for each, and encourages the reader to critically evaluate and reflect upon various and integrated…

For two summers, week-long residential mathematics programs were held for high school women, with the primary goal of encouraging them to continue their study of mathematics. The activities were designed to rekindle their excitement about mathematics and to support the idea that women should learn advanced mathematics. This paper reports the…