One of the centralizing factors for youth in your program is the places in which they interact with your program. Creating safe spaces is central to Actua’s experiences and there are unique considerations for programs that are intended for Black youth. This section is designed to help program leaders implement the principles of the National Black Youth in STEM program by creating places for positive STEM identity.

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What is STEM identity?

The overall aim of Actua’s National Black youth in STEM program is to create a strong sense of STEM identity for Black youth while addressing some of the barriers that create inequalities in the STEM career pipeline. In order to encourage the development of strong STEM identity, let us first discuss what it means to have STEM identity and how places that promote it come to be.

STEM identity is the sense of fit that a student feels when learning STEM subjects. It is the understanding that you belong in science because it is a large part of your everyday experiences.  (Singer, A., Montgomery, G. & Schmoll, S,2020)The presence of STEM identity in Black youth is one of the biggest factors in determining how engaged students will be when learning new or challenging subject matter. Without a positive STEM identity, it is difficult for Black youth to maintain long term interest in STEM.   

When discussing STEM identity and how it is formed in a particular place, we will be referring to Space and Place.  

Space in this context would be a physical location that has no connection to Black youth and their lived experiences. 

Place meanwhile, would be a location where Black youth can create strong STEM identity through meaningful human interactions. For more on developing meaning in spaces and places, you can refer to Actua’s anti-racism in STEM Training. 

Factors that can help Create Place for STEM identity: 

In order to create a place where Black youth develop a strong sense of STEM identity, we must feed into both the internally felt and externally experienced conditions that could serve to produce this positive mindset in Black youth. Being intentional about how you create your space will leave room for Black youth to make it a place where they are curating their concept of science exploration. Below you will find a list of things you can do to enhance these factors: 

• Acknowledging gaps in the record: One of the first internal factors is the recognition in Black youth that there are other narratives and stories in our world that are often deliberately left out of our education system.  Especially with an older youth audience, openly acknowledging this fact can be as impactful as ensuring the representation of Black scientists and engineers in education going forward. 

• Acknowledging gaps in Media Representation: When students encounter negative representations of STEM professionals, their STEM identity is further impacted. They end up associating science learning with what they frequently see on television or social media. For example, Big Bang Theory is an extremely popular show that depicts a very specific stereotype of scientist. When Black youth see shows like these, they are given queues about where they fit in the STEM world. 
• Encourage the maker mindset: The second factor to take into account is to foster youth’s self perception of having a  maker mindset. The maker mindset refers to one's ability to play, create and problem solve with the firm understanding that we all have the ability to grow and improve despites our failures.  (Honey, M. (Ed.),2013)As an instructor, you can stimulate a maker mindset by creating activities where students can act as STEM explorers in the real world. During this time, instructors should encourage students to embrace their mistakes and reflect on opportunities to improve next time. 
• Encourage their STEM curiosity: The third factor is the recognition of STEM aptitude in youth by their educators. It is important to combat the deficit lens to ensure that Black youth feel as though they are competent practitioners of science learning. Their success in STEM activities and having their skills recognized by instructors will play a big role in creating STEM identity. This does not mean that the student must get everything right. Their way of thinking about science should simply be celebrated and encouraged.

• Engage youth early and often: Early exploration of STEM ideas is key to a deep sense of STEM identity. Whenever possible, consider running programs that are catered to younger audiences. When Black youth are exposed to STEM at an early age, there is less conflict between science exploration and their internal perception of who they are.
• For youth by youth is a way for Black youth to visualize a sense of belonging by interacting with those they have things in common with. This is why it is so important to seek out role models that Black youth can relate to. As instructors, you should aim to present mentors who share lived experiences with the youth. 
• Build on social capital: When students are given the chance, they bring a wealth of social capital with them. This can range from cultural intuition to community history. Without the encouragement of their own experiences, it becomes an uphill battle to create positive STEM identity. Consider a first activity in each program that really draws out knowledge they already have to contribute. For example, youth are in a great position to identify community strengths that could be used to solve engineering or other challenges. 
• Build on foundational knowledge: When presented with extremely challenging tasks, Black youth are further convinced that science is not for them. As instructors it is important to curate content that encourages critical thinking, but is not so difficult that it makes participants question their abilities to problem solve.  Think about what prior knowledge youth may need in order to solve the task at hand - is this something you've covered previously in the camp or club?
• Building on cultural history: Another challenge is when students are required to engage in cultural erasure when they are required to participate in STEM programming. As instructors, it is important to respect and understand that all cultures have had a way of practicing science and technology for thousands of years. Students must be given the opportunity to speak about their experiences and explore how their cultures have always practiced STEM. 

In developing spaces intentionally, you will be able to  create a place where students can develop a strong STEM identity. By keeping the above factors in mind, students will be given the opportunity to naturally discover that science and technology are not specific to race, (or sex or gender!) and is inherently part of their everyday existence.