Mapping Philadelphia STEM Resources
HELPING A STEM COLLECTIVE reveal OPPORTUNITIES
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The Philadelphia STEM Equity Collective -- a partnership between GSK, the Philadelphia Education Fund, and the Philadelphia STEM Ecosystem -- has a goal of increasing the number of women, Black and Latinx students who enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and math by 2030. Extracurricular opportunities are crucial to achieving that goal. But students, parents and teachers need to be able to find them. So, the Collective asked Industrial Resolution to develop a specialized Directory for the city’s STEM programs.
The Problem
Philadelphia has an existing online map of afterschool programs in general, but it is not focused specifically on STEM. There are national maps that target STEM programs, but the Equity Collective wanted a local resource that would make it easy for users to find the opportunities closest to them, and also help identify gaps in which programs need to be developed.
“In addition, a new map needed to be accessible and intuitive, regardless of how students and parents were logging on. Not everybody has a high-end computer or high speed internet,”
Betsy Payne
The Solution
The Collective began collaborating with Industrial Resolution in March 2020 to create a simple, easy-to-use online STEM Education Directory. Through the next few months, Payne and her Philadelphia Education Fund colleagues worked with IndyRes to fine-tune the product, which made its debut in November.
“Working with Indy Res was a very good experience,” said Payne.
The company took into account her team’s likes and dislikes, quickly answered any questions she raised along the way, and delivered a final product on time and on budget.
The Philadelphia STEM Education Directory shows program locations and offers users a way to find more information without clogging up the screen. There is a map for students and their parents/guardians to locate out-of-school-time STEM opportunities, and their searches can be refined through simple-to-use filters that help sort through options and find relevant programs. The Directory also includes a link through which teachers and other educators can find professional development resources in STEM.
The Directory is making a positive impression on Philadelphia STEM advocates and collaborators like Phil Brooks, Director of STEM Workforce Development at the University City Science Center, and Dr. Nancy Peter, Director of the McKinney Center for STEM Education at the Philadelphia Education Fund.
“I have worked on several online directories in the past. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished with Industrial Resolution.”
Dr. Nancy Peter
The results
The Philadelphia STEM Equity Collective plans to track the Directory’s usage, which is expected to grow as more programs are added. This will help city leaders identify and fill any gaps in service, which is also a priority.
But the real value will be the Directory’s role in advancing the critical goal of providing easy access to STEM programming, and thus encouraging more young people to enter STEM fields, particularly those underrepresented in these increasingly valued careers.
