This article is one of a series of articles produced by Word in Black through support provided by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Word In Black is a collaborative of 10 Black-owned media outlets across the country.
By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Last week, Seattle Central College’s Mesa (Math, Engineering, Science and Achievement) Program held its annual Mesa Engineering Night.
In partnership with Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Puget Sound Council of Engineers, the event entitled, “The Future of Innovations” offered the students in the program to interact with professionals in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM), and learn about pathways to different careers in STEM.
“I think it was really interesting to see the collaboration that went into the event,” says Shaun Armour, Director of SCC’s MESA Program. “This is my first year conducting the event, but the event has been going on for 15 years. It was awesome to carry on this tradition.”
“There were about 40 to 50 students that signed up and filter through the day of the event,” continued Armour. “And so, as far as student engagement that was really huge.”
The MESA program began in the 1970s out of California and the SCC program has been offering this program for the last 15 years. The program is designed to help stir young students from the two-year program and transfer into four-year programs across the Pacific Northwest and the country.
According to Armour, there were over 30 business and engineering industry representatives at the event that provided the students with a broader perspective of the number of careers associated with STEM, and hopefully inspired the students to pursue them.
“[It was very important to have] professionals on hand to share their work, stories and passions about STEM and engineering with students,” says Armour.
“Our goal is to build that pathway from community colleges to the university campuses of four-year institutions for Black and Brown an BIPOC students,” he continued. “The program is to bring STEM to life for Black and Brown students. It is designed to introduce young students to science, technology, engineering and math and to help Black and Brown students to represent in those fields of study.”
Anu Ujin, a MESA student studying in the disciplines of STEM, says that opportunities like the MESA event are very important in helping students navigate and prepare their transition from the community college experience to the four-year experience.
“I like the idea of Seattle Central providing students the opportunity to join MESA, because they give us advice on how to transfer, on scholarships and internships needed to move on to the next level of education,” says Ujin.
As a society innovates and technology advances, the need for professionals who understand how these technologies work and who can propose practical solutions continues to grow. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics refers to STEM careers as “tomorrow’s jobs” emphasizing the importance of these unique industries.
In response to the growing demand and opportunities in the field, the U.S. Department of Education recently launched their “YOU Belong in STEM” campaign — an initiative to galvanize the broad STEM education ecosystem to implement and scale equitable and high-quality STEM education for all young people from Pre-K to higher education.
“With the YOU Belong in STEM initiative, we are helping districts and schools redesign systems and learning spaces to ensure students get the well-rounded education they need,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education, Cindy Marten. “We are also challenging narratives about who belongs in STEM learning and career that, over generations, left out millions of students of color, students living in poverty, Native Americans, Alaska Native students, students with disabilities, girls and young women and other marginalized students.”
“Every student, no matter their background or zip code can meet and exceed the unique potential to learn and thrive in STEM education,” Marten adds.
According to experts today STEM jobs are in high demand, and many are projected to stay in demand for several years. At the same time, STEM professionals are in short supply, which is why so many colleges, and the government are imploring students to study STEM.
Students like Ujin believe STEM is the key to the future of the developed world that he aims to be part of.
“Of course, the 21st century is reliant on and about STEM,” says Ujin. “Students should be more encouraged to get into STEM because STEM is the foundation of any developing country. And so, I think it is important to entice many more students into STEM.”
MESA’s objective is to get young people interested in and passionate about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Armour agrees and says that it is programs like his that will hopefully light a flame in the hearts and minds of students that will never flicker or fade.
“STEM is about the future,” says Armour. “But more importantly is for them (the students) to be really passionate about their future. The event gave me a really good feeling knowing that our future is in good hands because our students really do care, they really want to make an impact and really want to make a change.”
