The Million Girls Moonshot is a multi-year initiative that seeks to re-imagine who can engineer, who can build, who can make. It will inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging 1 million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and summer programs. The Moonshot will be active in out-of-school programs in all 50 states.
As we know, children spend less than 20 percent of their waking hours in school. Afterschool STEM can almost double the amount of time some students have to question, tinker, learn, and explore STEM topics. The more students participate in STEM learning opportunities after school and in the summer, the more interested they become in STEM subjects and majors.
STEM Next’s Million Girls Moonshot is geared toward transforming STEM learning experiences in afterschool and altering the workforce trajectory for underrepresented and underserved youth by creating groundbreaking and high-quality STEM learning pathways for students of all ages. While the Initiative’s goal is focused on increasing the number of girls with an engineering mindset and a STEM identity— the Initiative will benefit all students, improving the overall quality of all afterschool STEM opportunities and lifting up both boys and girls as they become future innovators.
The Moonshot Initiative is powered by four key research-based components designed to alter the trajectory of and transform out-of-school STEM learning and workforce development programs:
- Transformative programming to create more equitable and inclusive engagement of girls in STEM
- Employee engagement in afterschool
- National events to shine a light on girls building solutions, and
- National events to help link all the different efforts working to better serve girls and underserved youth in STEM learning.As part of this national initiative. As STEM system builders we work to increase access to STEM learning opportunities in afterschool and summer learning programs. Additionally, we need to explore how to support programs to engage and nurture all young people’s interest in STEM learning.