As high school internships become a valuable tool for STEM career exploration, how can educator-industry partnerships support equitable access to these opportunities? High school STEM internship opportunities remain highly competitive, leaving many traditionally underrepresented students out of the loop. Science Club for Girls observed this disparity among the girls we serve, and reached out to our STEM industry and research partners to create our High School STEM Internships program in response.
Join us for a panel discussion on leveraging relationships to create targeted internship programs that are accessible to industry and research professionals, utilize educators’ skills to maximize student learning and career exploration, and can be targeted to serve underrepresented students. The Science Club for Girls internships will be referenced as a model for creating localized, targeted partnerships that suit community needs. The panel incorporates industry, student, and program perspectives for an inclusive discussion. With all key voices present, we can delve into benefits and challenges on all sides, engaging educators and STEM professionals to consider whether they could support targeted small-scale internships to increase access to STEM internships throughout a diverse student population.
Moderated discussion will be centered on relationship development, intentional inclusion and support for diverse students, and educator-driven components to increase the learning depth, while decreasing the load on industry, in smaller-scale internships. We look forward to sharing our experiences and hearing from other educators and STEM professionals about what works in our communities.