NSF Award
2411684
This project aims to explore how family involvement in everyday activities can spark children's interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), with a focus on Latino families and how cooking together can be a fun and natural way for children to learn about STEM concepts. This research is important because it can: 1. help others understand how families can best support their children's interest in STEM, 2. provide valuable insights into how family culture and interactions shape children's STEM identity, especially for underrepresented groups like Latino children, and 3. lead to new and effective ways to encourage children to pursue STEM careers. The study also aims to improve children's ability to think critically and analyze information, encourage healthier eating habits through family cooking activities, and contribute to a more diverse workforce in STEM fields. This project offers an engaging approach to promoting STEM education for underrepresented children by utilizing the power of family and familiar activities. The project is designed for the postdoctoral researcher to develop a deeper understanding of STEM education while enhancing skills in research, communication, leadership, and management. <br/><br/>Diversity within the STEM workforce is essential for a wide range of ideas and viewpoints that foster innovation and productivity within organizations. However, minoritized groups, including Latinos, are significantly underrepresented in STEM. The goal of this study is to better understand the development of STEM identities of Latino youth by way of exploration, inquiry, and mastery of STEM related skills through a culturally driven STEM program for Latino families. By way of a quasi-experimental design, over a 5-week period, the project is designed to evaluate the effects of culturally affirming, at-home, co-cooking activities on children’s STEM identity, career aspirations, and diet quality. The goal of utilizing STEM tools, a family activity guide, and a reflective journal for children is to incorporate STEM concepts into the weekly co-cooking activities which are planned to highlight specific scientific phenomena during the cooking process. In addition, this study intends to capture caregivers’ and children’s lived experiences pertaining to cultural family cooking routines, family STEM conversations, and caregiver perceptions of children’s STEM identity through semi-structured interviews and audiovisual data collected through recordings of co-cooking experiences. The determination of best practices to enhance children’s STEM identities and to inspire future career aspirations via authentic and informal learning opportunities within Latino households are anticipated study outcomes. The project is designed to enhance the skills of the postdoctoral fellow in study design, research methods, and utilization of theories of change in furtherance of a career path in academic research; and to advance subject matter expertise related to children’s STEM identity, culturally affirming STEM practices, parent-child interactions, and children’s STEM career aspirations.<br/><br/>This project is funded by the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program that aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
