“Understanding the experiences of STEM mentors: Evaluating Indianapolis’ US2020 initiative”

Abstract

TechPoint Foundation for Youth is the Project Manager for Indianapolis’ US2020 Initiative, currently in its pilot year. The goal of the National US2020 Initiative is to match 1 million STEM mentors with students participating in STEM programs by the year 2020. The Indianapolis US2020 Initiative encourages STEM professionals to volunteer in the role of mentor, coach, or knowledge authority and to facilitate hands-on, experiential, STEM programs for students. These programs are specifically serving populations often underrepresented in STEM fields, such as low-income students, minorities, and girls. Ten Indianapolis schools and four Boys and Girls Club sites have been selected to participate in the program. At the beginning of the 2014 school year, pilot school and community sites were given the opportunity to select two or three STEM out-of-school time programs that cater to K-12 students. STEM professionals, recruited from our Corporate Partners, were then able to select mentoring opportunities through the Indianapolis US2020 Mentor Matching Portal, committing 10-20 hours of their time. Through evaluation procedures, US2020 and TechPoint Foundation for Youth hope to gain an understanding of: 1) student interest in STEM education and careers; 2) mentor satisfaction and engagement; 3) school facilitator/program satisfaction; and 4) corporate partner satisfaction. The evaluation will include pre-/post-surveys of students participating in US2020 programs, mentor journals given at major milestones of their mentoring experiences, post-mentor and school facilitator surveys, and interviews with corporate partners and TechPoint Foundation for Youth staff at the conclusion of the pilot year.