The STEM Stories Project: Challenging stereotypes and inspiring young girls through
online explorations of the lives and work of women in STEM fields

--Summative Evaluation Report

Authors

Michelle Phillips, Anita Smith, Inverness Research Inc.

Purpose

In an effort to increase and diversify the domestic science and engineering workforce, the National Science Foundation's Human Resource Development division supports projects through their Research on Gender in Science and Engineering program. One of the aims of this program is to address gender-based differences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and to support projects and educational experiences that affect student interest, performance, and choice of careers.

In 2008, Lois McLean and Richard Tessman of McLean Media received a two-year NSF grant (#HRD-0734004) through the Research on Gender in Science and Engineering program to develop the "Telling STEM Stories through Content Clips" project. Building on previous work, they developed a free, online collection of multimedia resources aimed at young girls which highlight STEM careers through the personal stories of women in STEM fields (and a few men), both past and present. The resulting website, STEM Stories, can be found at www.stemstories.org.

This summative evaluation report consists of the following sections:

• Project Description (including its theory of action, original goals, and major features)
• Evaluation (goals, questions, and methods)
• Findings and Discussion (of interviews, observations, surveys, and expert reviews)
• Conclusions
• Appendices (with protocols and survey instruments)

Intended Audience

Science Education Media Producers, STEM Educators, Museum Educators, Science Educators and Administrators, Reform Leaders and Funders, and general public.

Disclaimer

Any and all errors are claimed by the authors of this document, Inverness Research, Inc.

Date published

January 2011

Sponsored by

NSF award number 0734004

Distribution Policy

Inverness Research Inc. grants permission to print and distribute copies.

These materials do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

View & Print Report

These links will launch an Acrobat Reader document. Use the Back button on your Browser to return from the Acrobat document. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, click the button shown above.

DOWNLOAD REPORT (p. 43)