Unlocking Potential by Tamra Stambaugh

Author:Tamra Stambaugh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks

CHAPTER 7

Instructional Strategies to Support Talented Students From Low-Income Households: The STEM Fields

Ann Robinson and Monica C. Meadows

The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields present a pathway out of poverty for children and adolescents from low-income households. Two reasons make these content domains an effective match. First, STEM fields are in high demand and therefore offer individuals from low-income households career and professional attainment with adequate financial rewards. Second, science, technology, and engineering are inherently hands-on domains and therefore engage children and adolescents in active learning immediately.

In terms of demand, STEM education serves as a gateway to higher paying jobs and is an important linchpin to a growing economy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, STEM jobs are projected to increase 13% between 2017 and 2027, as compared to 9% for non-STEM jobs, with positions in computing, engineering, and advanced manufacturing leading the way (Fayer et al., 2017). In addition, STEM-related jobs pay well. Out of 100 STEM occupations, 93% had wages above the national average. In 2015, the national average for STEM annual salaries was $87,570, whereas the national average for non-STEM occupations sat at roughly half, $45,700 (Fayer et al., 2017).

With respect to diversity, the STEM workforce ranges widely within and across STEM occupations. According to the Pew Research Center, even though women have made gains in representation in the STEM workforce over the past 25 years, particularly in life and physical science jobs, they remain strongly underrepresented in some STEM job clusters, notably computer science and engineering (Funk & Parker, 2018). Racial and ethnic diversity in STEM is also varied. Black and Hispanic workers remain underrepresented overall; these groups are also underrepresented among those in STEM occupations with professional or doctoral degrees. Asian American individuals are overrepresented across all STEM occupational clusters and have an especially large presence in the college-educated STEM workforce, particularly in computer science occupations, relative to their share among employed college graduates overall (Funk & Parker, 2018). These economic and workforce trends provide context for developing STEM talents in K–12 settings, including low average-income schools.

Second, with respect to hands-on engagement, talent development in the STEM fields, particularly with children and adolescents from low-income households, is developmental. The challenge and engagement must begin early and continue through a trajectory into early career and must be persistent to make a difference in the lives of individuals in poverty. Several models of talent, which tend to be attentive to domain-specific differences, address lifespan development (Dai, 2017; Dai & Li, in press; Feldhusen, 1998; Subotnik et al., 2011). However, they do not necessarily address the unique challenges of children and adolescents from low-income households in accessing affordances in STEM domains. We adopt the perspective that developmental models are a good match for talented children living in poverty, but linkages to the STEM fields need to be explicit. Specifically, STEM affordances can be costly for both home and school.

Learners from low-income households routinely “make do” as part of economic constraints at home and at school.

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