Welcome to the Couragion video! We are on a mission to boost the number and diversity of students that pursue STEM pathways. We are in the process of determining which outcomes are key to measure to prove our impact. The video highlights some of the outcomes we track today. We would welcome your ideas on other outcomes or measurements we should consider as we continue to track our impact and expand our product offering. And of course, discussions on other aspects of our project are also of interest to us - so comment away!

Thanks for sharing this video. I would have loved using this platform when I was younger, and can imagine that there are countless school districts around the country that would appreciate having access to this service. One question I wanted to ask is how Couragion is able to scale to different geographies, and if there are ways for the students to virtually connect with professionals from the different industries. Also, what recommendations do you have for organizations that want to do something similar?

That's some cool stuff! What a great resource for youth trying to figure it all out. Have you considered connecting with "Engineer Your Life" to offer this platform through their site also. They offer tools and resources for young girls to learn about engineering (specifically) careers... this would add another layer to their efforts as well (and your own).

As with Marcelo's comment above, I'm struck by how fantastic your back end in connecting people to different locations. It's marvelous. (I imagine users have a profile set up with enough information to filter out the location.) My question is (and if your video mentioned this and I missed it, I apologize), what ages/level of students is your aim? How young/how old of a student do you have a quest available?

This sounds like it has great potential. Our work suggests that students do not know the "right" courses to take in high school to get them on a STEM career path, and sometimes, neither to counselors. 

For instance, many capable students don't seem to find their ways into a "standard" college prep sequence of courses. 

Does this app help deal with this? 

Do you have high school advisers use the app? 

Thanks.

Hi Laura, I admire your work! I specifically appreciate your focus on role models, as they can instill hope in youth who have similar STEM interests.
I'm currently a research assistant to an after school program designed to support low income and immigrant youth to build interest, motivation, and identification with STEM and to learn more about STEM college and career pathways.  Here is the link to our video: http://stemforall2017.videohall.com/presentatio...

It would be great if you could actually connect the role models to the youth, as the current platform seems like it is based on one-way interactions. I am sure the youth would be able to develop a realistic viewpoint about STEM careers if they are given the chance of engaging with meaningful discourses with the role models!

Are you doing any long term follow-up to see if more students actually major in STEM fields?  Changing their intention in middle or high school is one thing, but negative stereotypes and the difficulty of STEM subjects can change students' actual plans.  

Very cool! Curious how parents see this sort of resource--I'm sure most of them find it really exciting, though it likely takes them away from things they know well, which can be really scary as a mom or dad.

This tool looks fantastic! Many underrepresented minority students (especially first generation college students) struggle when they transition into STEM coursework at the postsecondary level--even when they enter with a record of high academic achievement. For instance, the literature has demonstrated the importance of resiliency and persistence to survive first-year math and science courses that serve as weeders for more advanced coursework. Have you considered featuring (or do you already feature) undergraduate and graduate students as role models on the site who might talk openly about roadblocks they faced and the avenues they took to circumvent them (e.g., participating in undergraduate research experiences, using online resources like Khan academy, forming a study group)?

Nice video, Laura! I love how your app exposes students to a wide variety of careers and connects them with additional resources and opportunities that they may want to pursue based on their interest in a particular field.

Congratulations on the creation of the app. I love the way it provides concrete steps that a young person would need to take to obtain a particular career. I am curious about how you recruit the role models, and/or how you decided on which STEM careers would be representative of the field. Again, thank you for your work to inspire and inform young people! 

Great Video Laura. It is so great to see how other groups are exposing young people to the variety of STEM careers, as well as the variety of people who do those jobs! Our YouthAstroNet project (http://stemforall2017.videohall.com/presentations/971) also highlights diverse STEM role models as a key component to encouraging motivation and interest in STEM careers for underrepresented youth.

Youth participants in our program can interact with our STEM mentors in 3 ways: exploring mentor profiles, engaging in conversations with a digital mentor on our online portal, or through live webinar interactions. The first two they can do on their own, while the live interactions are coordinated through their educator. We've had pretty good success so far with our digital mentors and live interactions, and I would be happy to share our lessons learned as you explore this option for your program in the future. It is easier, however, to engage the scientists in creating mentor profiles (shorter time commitment with a lasting impact). I'm always trying to make our mentor profiles more engaging, and helpful to our youth. So I'm curious, what kind of information do you include about your STEM role models, and what components have you found to have the strongest impacts on student career interest?