Leveraging STEM for Social Change

Meet Long Dinh, co-facilitator of Washington STEM’s Career Connected Learning Student Design Team. Long is a first generation Vietnamese American and the first in his family to graduate with a degree from college. What is the Career Connected Learning Student Design Team? We’ll get to that in a little bit.

Right now, let’s talk about Long’s experience in school. Like many students, Long wasn’t sure what careers were out there. In Long's words:

“When I started 9th grade, I had no real sense of what careers I might be interested in. Careers weren’t on my mind in early high school. In 10th grade, we went on the only company visit I can remember in all four years of high school. We went to a business headquarters where we saw lawyers working. All I could remember were white dull ceilings.

In 11th grade, I knew I had to get serious about some career. When I was little, I thought I wanted to become a landscaper like my father. After trying it out, I learned it was a tough, labor intensive job. I realized I wanted to try something else. I thought about becoming a business person. Sitting behind a desk all day with a secure and stable job sounded good. I didn’t really know what a business person did or how I would even get there. I had no exposure to any types of potential careers.

In 12th grade, my parents said it would make them happy if I got a high-end job such as an engineer, software developer, or doctor. I knew I had to go to college for these jobs, but I didn’t know how to get there. I applied to UW and SU but didn’t get in. My 2.5 GPA was not enough. And, to be honest, I had no idea the SATs were even required for college admission.”

This is pretty common among students in our state (especially for young people like Long). A recent Crosscut article published this rather bleak look at the future of a middle schooler interested in coding:

“You’re a middle school student in Washington, and you’ve decided that you’d like to eventually find a job in the state’s most common profession, software engineering… But by the time you’ve arrived in high school, you’ve never taken a computer science course. The high school you’re assigned to has no class on offer that covers basics like coding. Later, as a student at the University of Washington, you discover that you and many qualified, interested students can’t get into the computer science major because there’s not enough space.”

Thanks to your support, there’s a new strategy to give students access to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Through the Career Connected Learning Initiative, Long and students like him are planning new ways for schools, community members, and businesses to give all kids access to secure, enjoyable jobs. Long and a cohort of five students are giving guidance on new strategies to increase student access to career opportunities through things like matching apps, career trainings, and mentoring nights. On the degree side, because of your investment in STEM, there’s growing connectivity between high schools and degree programs that lead to great jobs.

“While working on the Student Design Team, I realized I was the student this project was trying to reach. I was the end user. As I reflected on my journey through high school, I realized there were several “missed” opportunities along the way that could have steered me to think about a career and what classes I would need to take to prepare for higher education,” said Long. “Being involved with this project with Washington STEM has made me realize that I can help offer solutions, so that another high school student like me gets the chance to connect their interests and skills to a future career.”

With your support, missed opportunities are turning into new opportunities for students like Long. Want to learn more about the Career Connected Learning Initiative? Email Gilda Wheeler, Senior Program Officer, at gilda@washingtonstem.org.

The Washington STEM and Washington MESA Engineering Fellows program launched on July 12, 2016. This exciting new program will increase engineering education efforts throughout the state focusing on King County and the Yakima Valley. Please see below for more information.

Links:

• Career Connected Learning Initiative

• Engineering Fellows Program Launch (PDF)