The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), in partnership with Florida International University's (FIU) STEM Transformation Institute and College of Engineering and Computing, collaborate to study the experience of mentors and students who have participated in their largest K-12 program, the Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK), since 2007 (17 years).
Through funding provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and support from corporate sponsors within NSBE, this collaborative project led by Dr. Trina Fletcher and her READi Lab research group deeply explores and examines the experiences of hundreds of students and mentors who participated in their largest program, SEEK, since its beginning in 2007. The project seeks to better understand the participant's:
- STEM identity development
- Career trajectories by analyzing data provided through a nationally-deployed survey
- Analyze differences by participant type and location attended
- within participant groups, look at similarities and differences by age, gender, race/ethnicity, regional location and more
Project Benefits:​
- Advancing our knowledge of what works/best practices within out-of-school and informal education programs
- Influence policy-level decisions related to K-12 educational programming
- Advance research around data analytics, predictive analytics, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within out-of-school time program evaluation and research analysis
Current publications:
Education Sciences (accepted): Gender and STEM Education: An analysis of interest and experience
outcomes for Black girls within a summer engineering program
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American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) 2024 (accepted): Engagement in Practice: A Road Map for Academia and Non-Profit Collaboration
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