Raleigh, North Carolina USA 3/14/2024

Our Founder, Moni Singh, sat down with Amber Freeman of CBS17 to discuss how to inspire diversity in STEM fields.

 

Moni reflected on the days as a leader in Corporate America, when she traveled frequently to supplier factories in different countries. During one such visit, after the factory tour, she went to the supplier’s corporate tower for strategic meetings. There she was told that there were no women’s bathrooms in the corporate tower and that she would need to head back to the factory floor to use the women’s restroom! Which she did and there, many women workers approached her. They had seen her accompanied by their company’s senior leaders taking the tour. Seeing a brown woman (perhaps, their first one) in leadership ranks walking with the executive team, made them wonder. They asked “We are merely working on the sidelines here on the floor. How did you get to be up there [in the leadership team]?”

 

The question was a stark reminder for Moni that success is at the intersection of capabilities, efforts and opportunities. While there is no dearth of capabilities and efforts, many people lack the opportunities.

 

So, when she founded STEM For Kids, she started creating opportunities for diverse young students to get hands-on experiences with STEM. One of her programs, GeeK Scholars in 2014/2015 offered scholarships to talented underrepresented students. One teacher recommended a child saying “she will make a positive difference in the world if given an opportunity.” That student, Torchea, a 6th grade African-American girl, wanted to be an entrepreneur. She joined STEM For Kids’ summer workshops, learned about entrepreneurship, the inner workings of computers, marketing, messaging and designing a website. She used what she learned to turn her vision into a virtual model of the store she would own in the future! The happy and proud Torchea beamed with a wide smile as she showed her creation.

 

Moni said that inspiring diversity in STEM means creating many such opportunities for the youngsters because it’s these grassroots efforts that result in statistics like NSF’s Diversity and STEM 2023 report that showed that STEM workforce is now 35% woman and 24% underrepresented minorities including Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and Alaska Natives. There is progress and a lot more needs to happen.

 

When Amber asked how we can inspire more diversity in STEM, Moni said that she and her teams have worked in many diverse communities, developing, developed and under-developed. There are 2 common elements of what gets a child engaged in their learning: when it is fun and it is real so that they understand the “so what”; why they should care about what they are learning; where they can use it.

 

Moni acknowledged that many organizations involved in STEM education either formally or informally (like NSTA, ASTC and Child Care Aware in the USA and UNICEF globally) are doing their part in creating opportunities for young children.

The key then is to enable MAGIC in those opportunities… the MAGIC to make STEM fun and real. Moni explained further that there are 5 components:

• M – Models: showing role models, real people who are or have done STEM. This helps to break stereotypes, builds confidence and aspirations in young people.
• A – Applications: showcase related careers, products and creations to answer the “so what” for children.
• G – Guidance: human-enabled learning. In the world of Artificial Intelligence, it’s even more important to “humanize” the learning experience with real-life coaches especially for the preK to grade 8 students (PreK, elementary / primary and middle school students).
• I – Insights: help children develop insights on how to conduct themselves, be self-assured, develop the 4C skills of Communications, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity, the life skills of resilience to deal with rapid changes, conflicts, setbacks, and challenges.
• C – Curiosity: inspire them by showcasing the breadth of STEM fields. STEM is not just coding, not just AI. STEM is really broad. It represents a variety of occupations and an immense array of skills ranging from computers, engineering to life sciences, installation and repairs per a Brookings institute study of 3 million job ads from 2013 representing 52,000 companies.

Moni added that STEM For Kids’ 4-Dimensional learning creates such MAGIC in all communities served by a STEM For Kids trained operator.

 

Moni’s children’s book of rhyming biographies, STEM Icons, is about the M in her MAGIC… showcasing achievers in science, technology and engineering. Celebrating achievers in politics, sports and entertainment is a global phenomenon. They are talked about a lot and children hear about them. The people who have transformed or are transforming our worlds through advancements in science and technology often don’t enter a child’s world when they are young. “I wrote the book to bring to light some of these stories of people who have impacted so many lives.”

 

See the full interview at https://www.cbs17.com/my-carolina/sponsored-content-discover-initiatives-to-get-children-interested-in-stem/ .

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Moni Singh, a recognized trailblazer in the field of STEM education, has been sparking curiosity in young minds by helping teachers and care providers through her creation STEM For Kids®. Through engaging workshops, interactive camps, and innovative programs, Moni has enabled transformations of classrooms into laboratories of imagination across the globe.

 

STEM For Kids® enables purpose-driven educators and entrepreneurs to bring life- and career-readiness skills to preK-8 children in their communities. 

 

With over 1500 hours of STEM activities in various themes covering engineering (aerospace, civil, mechanical, environmental, bio-medicine), technology (coding, robots, Artificial Intelligence, Internet Of Things), business and social emotional learning, educators, parents and students have a lot to get excited about. 

 

STEM For Kids® ranked #173 on the highly coveted Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 list. With a growing network of STEM For Kids® operators, educators, trained teachers, and franchisees, we have impacted numerous communities across the globe. Add your community now, https://teach4d.stemforkids.net/edu-services 

 

For media inquiries contact sales@stemforkids.net .