Bridging the Confidence Gap: Raising Self-Efficacy Amongst Urban High School Girls Through STEM Education | Biomedgrid

Careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) represent one of the fastest growing segments of the global economy. Notably underrepresented in this wave of new job creation are ethnic minorities and women. To meet the growing workforce demands, educators are creating a number of new educational interventions aimed at encouraging young people towards careers in STEM. However, many programs do not contain a component that actively engages female learners, especial female students of color. An emerging number of interventions are now being staged specifically catering to the interests and aptitudes of female STEM students of color. Within many of these programs, the primary outcomes measured are still related to test scores, university matriculation, and career placement. In this mini-review, the authors posit that selfefficacy is a much more appropriate metric by which to gauge the success of STEM interventions