From Grade School to Grad School

The STEM pipeline is an often-used analogy for efforts to increase the number of people entering the critical areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The analogy references the attempt to get young students into the educational conduit and have them emerge from the other end as professionals with graduate and post-graduate degrees. Much like the trans-Alaskan pipeline that is 800 miles long and has 11 major pumping stations, the educational conduit needs to have its own entrance points and activities that keep the contents flowing. The authors present a model of a pipeline program based on the results of research work examining the impact of robotics competitions on students' self-perceptions for success in STEM. The model has a unique component of employing older students as informal role models along with formal adult mentors, providing a self-perpetuating cycle in the pipeline.