{"id":129977,"date":"2021-08-18T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/?p=2902339"},"modified":"2021-08-18T19:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T19:30:00","slug":"new-study-americas-afterschool-programs-providing-more-stem-learning-opportunities-but-students-from-low-income-families-most-likely-to-miss-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2021\/08\/18\/new-study-americas-afterschool-programs-providing-more-stem-learning-opportunities-but-students-from-low-income-families-most-likely-to-miss-out\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study: America\u2019s Afterschool Programs Providing More STEM Learning Opportunities, But Students from Low-Income Families Most Likely to Miss Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0<\/strong>Greatest Increase Is in Technology and Engineering Learning for Older Students<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC<\/strong> \u2014 Afterschool programs are helping address both the shortage of U.S. workers who are well-trained in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields and the underrepresentation of people of color and women in STEM professions. A study released today finds that afterschool programs have been ramping up their STEM offerings, with 73% of parents reporting that their child\u2019s afterschool program offers STEM learning opportunities, up from 69% in 2014.<\/p>\n

Three in five parents of afterschool students (60%) report that their child participates in STEM in afterschool twice or more per week, up from 52% in 2014. Learning opportunities in each of the STEM disciplines \u2013 science learning, technology\/engineering, and math \u2013 are more available in afterschool programs today than they were in 2014. Two in five parents (41%) report that their child\u2019s afterschool program offers computer science opportunities \u2013 a question asked for the first time in this survey.<\/p>\n

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Those are among the findings from STEM Learning in Afterschool on the Rise, But Barriers and Inequities Exist<\/em><\/a>, a new report that identifies trends, measures progress and determines which students are and are not benefiting from STEM in afterschool. It is based on a household survey conducted by Edge Research for the Afterschool Alliance. It finds that 5,740,836 students across the country are getting opportunities to learn STEM in their afterschool programs. Nearly 2 million U.S. children (1,904,846) participated in summer STEM camps in 2019.<\/p>\n

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But while afterschool programs are reaching populations underrepresented in STEM fields, including Black and Latinx students, students from low-income families are much less likely to be getting technology\/engineering and computer science in afterschool than students from higher-income families. That may be, in part, due to cost; parents nationwide report the mean cost of programs offering STEM learning is $107 per week, compared to $74 per week for programs that do not offer it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more, afterschool programs are providing the STEM learning opportunities that students need to succeed in school and in life,\u201d said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant. \u201cThanks to the hands-on, team- and project-based learning these programs provide, they have become a cornerstone of STEM learning for children and youth from all backgrounds. But the inequities are troubling and must not continue. We need to increase access to afterschool overall, because even though parents report a greater percentage of programs are providing STEM, fewer children are in afterschool programs today than in years past. In our country today, for every child in an afterschool program, three more are waiting to get in<\/a>. We can and must reverse that trend by building and strengthening partnerships and by investing more resources so that all students, no matter their family income, gender, or race, can access STEM in afterschool. That should be a high priority for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

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STEM Learning in Afterschool <\/em>is based on survey responses from more than 31,000 U.S. families. It includes national-level findings from smaller surveys of parents and program providers conducted in summer and fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. Among the key findings:<\/p>\n