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African-Americans women represent only 2% of the science and engineering workforce in the United States compared to 18% of their peers. For many years the African-American community has struggled to close the achievement gap. Although many strides have been made there are a number of areas in which African-Americans have limited influence. At Steam Beans we believe that the root cause is fear. Generation after generation, without adequate modeling in these disciplines has caused African- Americans to shy away from these valued academic and professional studies. In addition, because African-Americans don’t frequent STEM pathways, it sends a cultural signal that unfortunately further perpetuates the cycle.
Early exposure to STEM sciences will encourage students to pursue STEM science educational opportunities and careers. The earlier the seed is planted in these disciplines the better the chances are of developing a child’s interest. Waiting until the later years to introduce STEM allows time for seeds of doubt, anxiety, and fear around the subjects to grow. This consequently makes it challenging to uproot the misconceptions planted in early learning.
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Reasons Why...
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Interested in helping out?
We are currently looking for passionate, dedicated, supportive and enthusiastic members who are interested in empowering and supporting African-American girls to join our Board of Directors. Download the job description below to learn more.
| steam_beans_board_of_directors-job_description.pdf |
