Project Scientist STEM Career Pathways

Women are significantly underrepresented in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) workforce, including high-growth, high-paying fields like computer science and engineering (American Association of University Women). Although women are making gains (from 8% of STEM workers in 1970 to 27% in 2019), 73% of STEM workers are still men (U.S. Census Bureau). Women earned 53% of STEM college degrees in 2018, but these were highly concentrated in health-related fields (85%) and underrepresented in engineering (just 22%) and computer science (22%), (Pew Research Center 2021).  

Some communities where we have forged deep educational partnerships, including our headquarters state of California, outperform the national average, but still have a long way to go to achieve gender equity in STEM (EdSource 2022). Project Scientist sees closing the achievement gap in STEM as an effective means out of generational poverty through access to opportunities and entry into high-paying careers. STEM jobs offer a substantial salary premium. The average salary for STEM-related jobs is $89,780, compared to $40,020 for non-STEM occupations (U.S. Bureau of Labor, 2021). 

Project Scientist is the only national girl-focused STEM program to use evidence-based practices to serve girls as young as four years old. For young children, career interests are relatively fluid (Helwig 2003); however, from about ages 5 to 6, they start to make career-limiting decisions about what they do not want to do (Gottfredson 2005; Bian et al. 2017). 

We counter the factors that influence these decisions, including perceived gender-appropriateness of careers, social level of careers, accessibility (Chambers et al. 2018), and the child’s concept of their ability (Nagengast and Marsh 2012). We do this by providing role models who look like them, exposure to careers across the STEM spectrum, and using our pipeline approach to encourage them to pursue majors and internships with our partner STEM companies.

Project Scientist’s mission is to expose a diverse population of girls to a high-quality STEM curriculum that inspires confidence in their pursuit of learning throughout the year. Our vision is to educate 500,000 girls in STEM programs and careers by 2040. We ignite and cultivate participants’ confidence in their abilities in science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM).  We accomplish this goal through teacher training, standards-aligned after-school and summer education, and mentoring, including the following programs:

Project Scientist Teaching Institute- Every educator working with our students is upskilled through the Project Scientist Teaching Institute, https://psteachinginstitute.org/. 

Providing training with the potential to impact learners beyond those immediately served by our STEM programs, the Teaching Institute focuses on integrating gender and racially equitable teaching strategies for improving student outcomes and educator confidence.

After-School STEM Club is Project Scientist’s signature hybrid, in-person and virtual After-School enrichment opportunity offered in both English and Spanish, immersing students in practical, hands-on learning, experiences with female role models, and real-life expeditions to STEM companies.

Summer STEM Lab is an immersive summer STEM experience in English and Spanish in which girls aged 7-12: (1) follow along with Project Scientist credentialed teachers and trained facilitators for hands-on experiments and activities for a total of 15 hours (five days/week, three hours/day), (2) interact with STEM Superstars (female professional role models) to inspire future career aspirations, and (3) participate in interactive expeditions hosted by our corporate partners so they can get a real-life glimpse of diverse career pathways at a variety of companies.

Project Scientist Scholars is a six-month, virtual STEM leadership and skills development program to empower girls and non-binary students ages 13-18 who have an interest in a STEM-focused education and careers, provided at no cost on scholarship to 100% of participants.

Our unique pipeline model encourages girls to consider STEM careers through deep engagement with our corporate volunteers This provides valuable opportunities for students to have personal experiences with a variety of role models. 

To learn more about Project Scientist and the students we serve, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esY_MSzTr1A&t=6s. 

Project Scientist transforms the lives of girls and non-binary students. We ignite and cultivate participants’ confidence in their abilities in science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM). We strengthen their self-assurance and sense of belonging in a supportive environment with friends who are interested in learning. They see the relevance of STEAM in their own lives and in their communities and feel empowered to make an impact. With Project Scientist, they understand and believe they have an exciting future full of possibilities. Someday they can pursue a STEAM career or any other they choose.

In the United States, we have forged deep partnerships with public and private school partners to deliver out-of-school time programming in Southern California, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg metropolitan region in North Carolina, and the Minneapolis-Saint Paul/Twin Cities metropolitan area in Minnesota. In Mexico, we launched a bilingual English and Spanish pilot program in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, in 2022. 

The Project Scientist approach addresses two challenge dimensions, resulting in more equitable access to STEM education for female-identifying students between the ages of 4 and 18:

1. Supports K-12 educators in the classroom and in after-school settings: Our evidence-based Teaching Institute, https://psteachinginstitute.org/, trains educators in gender and racial equitable teaching strategies that teachers can immediately implement in Project Scientist after-school programs and bring back to the classroom, benefiting all students. 

2. Ensures continuity across STEM education to address successive drop-off in completion rates from K-12 through undergraduate years: Our program design is grounded in research that addresses this barrier to girls participation, and backed by third-party evaluation. For example, see the Pear (Partnerships in Education and Resilience) Institute at Harvard University study of our 2022 Summer Lab program, demonstrating student improvement in four skill areas: action orientation, perseverance, optimism, and relationships with adults, https://projectscientist.org/sites/default/files/Harvard2020.pdf.  

University of North Carolina at Charlotte study results (2018) also demonstrated that Project Scientist programs successfully connect participating students with female role models, increased STEM confidence, and that students are more likely to think of scientists as female following our programs. One student reported, “I don’t really have science classes in school...I didn’t really like engineering and then when I saw the hyperloop, like engineer stuff, I liked it better.” https://projectscientist.org/sites/default/files/Project%20Scientist%20Report%20Highlights%20from%20University%20of%20North%20Carolina%20Charlotte%202014-2018.pdf. 

Celebrating our 10-year anniversary in 2023, Project Scientist has a decade of experience providing standards-aligned STEM education in English and Spanish in communities across 26 states and Mexico. We have longstanding school partnerships in Southern California, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg metropolitan region in North Carolina, and the Minneapolis-Saint Paul/Twin Cities metropolitan area in Minnesota, and in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, with virtual and blended learning options extending our proven programs to urban and rural communities everywhere.

Project Scientist serves girls aged 4-18, offering dual-language programs in Spanish and English for approximately 25% of our students who live in Spanish-speaking households. Project Scientist is the only program in the country offering a standards-aligned STEM curriculum for girls as young as four years old in Spanish, optimized for a dual language teaching environment.

The Project Scientist team is representative of the diverse communities we serve, including women, communities of color, and geographically diverse communities throughout the United States. Founder and CEO Sandy Marshall began Project Scientist in 2011 with six girls in her backyard, including her then 4-year-old daughter, Ellie. Marshall’s distinguished career in nonprofit management spans nearly three decades, including her roles with the American Heart Association, Special Olympics and Easter Seals, and founder of The NASCAR Foundation. 

Shana K. Benford is Project Scientist’s Chief Program and Impact Officer and Head of DEIB. She is a former public school teacher, professor, and educational leader. As a professor, she taught potential STEM teachers and developed courses to support their growth. One of her courses, Teaching with Equity in Mind, is available on CGScholar, open access. She also taught, supervised, and advised undergraduate and graduate students pursuing teaching careers. 

We’re been humbled to receive many honors, including the Acumen Civic Accelerator grant. The Accelerator invests in social ventures that solve pressing social and environmental issues. Project Scientist Founder Sandy Marshall was selected for The American Express Leadership Academy at Thunderbird School of Global Management, a by-invitation-only program at Arizona State University for international NGOs and nonprofits. The Academy empowers participants to become successful global leaders in the social sector.

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Project Scientist’s proven approach is ready to scale, and the Gender Equity in STEM Challenge provides the structured and networked framework to launch our interconnected programs to more communities across the United States. We intend to engage in the MIT Solve six-month support program to accelerate and scale our approach in the following ways:

1. Draw on the comprehensive needs assessment to strengthen the “4 Pillars” of our social enterprise: people, environment, economic resources, and culture. During the growth phase, we will continue to build a thriving culture of racial and gender equity, cultivating strong female leaders and male allies, diversifying income streams including corporate partnerships with leading STEM employers. 

2. Build on our nationwide network of cross-sector partnerships, including industry partners contributing associate time as volunteers, STEM role models, and STEM expedition tour hosts.

3. Train and invest in our staff through professional development designed to prepare them for scaling and refining the business model to serve urban and rural communities everywhere.

4. Convene with peers through the MIT Learning Network to share research and program impact more widely within the STEM community. 

In Charlotte, North Carolina, where Project Scientist begin with six girls in Founder/CEO Sandy Marshall’s backyard, we have partnered with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as a project site for nearly a a decade. Here, our dedicated educators are immersing students in quality after-school STEM education in both English and Spanish. 

Mecklenburg County’s Hispanic community grew by more than 50% over the past decade and now makes up 14% of the county’s residents (U.S. Census Bureau). Zarett Ramirez, a native Spanish speaker and teacher at Devonshire Elementary in east Charlotte, said of her work leading Project Scientist STEAM Club, “"Honestly, this is why I came into teaching is to be with Hispanic children, being with them and seeing that they can be whatever they want to be in this world” (Ann Doss Helms, “Science club for girls goes bilingual and international in its quest to open doors, WFAE 90.7, May 31, 2022). At Devonshire Elementary, more than half of students identify as Hispanic. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools serves more than 140,000 students across nine learning communities. 38.5% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch based on household income, and 13.5% are English Language Learners (Source: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools 2023). Charlotte Mecklenburg Library also serves as a site partner for this initiative, with 20 locations and serving more than one million people county-wide. 

Project Scientist helps female-identifying students overcome barriers to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers by immersing them in high-quality STEM education, introducing STEM career pathways, and pairing them with female professional role models.

Project Scientist is unique among STEM education nonprofits that serve girls and non-binary students. There are no other national organizations that engage participants ages 4 to 18 in a full range of science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. To our knowledge, we are the only STEM education group in the country which brings hands-on STEM learning, introductions to STEM role models, and expeditions to top companies to under-resourced girls and non-binary students nationwide. We have connections with companies to introduce participants to role models and experts in workforce development.

We are aware of no other organization in the U.S. with our blended/hybrid model, in which we are the content experts partnering with other nonprofits and schools. Ours is a long-term approach to building participants’ confidence and sense of belonging while sparking their imaginations to the possibilities of STEM. By partnering with other groups and training their employees, we make an impact that extends far beyond Project Scientist. The scientists and educators we train take that newfound knowledge back to their classrooms and programs, influencing thousands of students.

Our leadership team has recently adopted a five-year strategic plan for the organization’s growth and sustainability. By 2027, we will celebrate the milestone of serving 70,000 girls since our founding, will raise $5 million in revenue, and reach 15,000 girls annually in 4+ markets, as well as 1,100 teachers. 

In 2023, our progress toward these five-year goals will include: serving 5,000 girls, providing 10,000 STEAM experiences, generating $2.225 million in revenue, and transforming to a market-driven model. We will secure 4 school/funder partnerships and expand our regional “hub” model, lead 1 school year expedition, and train 50 teachers through the Project Scientist Teaching Institute.

Our purpose is to ignite and cultivate STEAM confidence in marginalized and under-resourced girls. Our strategy is to deliver high-quality STEAM experiences in their communities, providing a pathway out of poverty. To this goal, our long-term vision is to provide 1 million high-quality STEAM experiences by 2040. We will do this by: serving 500,000 under-resourced and
marginalized girls* in the communities where they live, training 5,000 elementary teachers in math, gender, and racial equity teaching strategies, engaging 4,000 STEAM professionals to serve as role models and STEAM advocates, partnering with leading companies and universities to create high-quality and relevant content and experiences, tracking outcomes and
impact through pre and post-evaluations, longitudinal tracking, and third party oversight.

Within the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework, our work most directly addresses Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, including the following objectives:

4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.

4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

Our mission also directly addresses Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, including the following objectives:

5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.

5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life.

5.b Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.

Going further, making high-quality STEM education more broadly accessible to girls everywhere supports the broader SDG framework by training and preparing female leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields that are having a direct impact on our public and private sectors’ ability to take positive steps to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, for Goals 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, and others, empowering girls and women to achieve STEM equity will have a dramatic impact on our ability to address global problems such as hunger, poverty, disease, and climate change, developing new solutions and technologies that will improve access to clean water and energy, and creating economic opportunity and employment through innovation. 

Our Chief Program and Impact Officer, Shana K. Benford, researched best practices to support the development of Project Scientist's Teaching Institute and enhance our programming. Her 2023 blog and 2022 paper, Transformation for Gender Equity in STEM Education, shared a critical research basis for our work which is grounded in UNICEF’s 5 aspects of a gender-responsive STEM education.

Project Scientist Teaching Institute is grounded in UNICEF’s 5 aspects of a gender responsive STEM education. UNICEF envisions a gender-responsive education that breaks down stereotypes. Key pillars of this approach include: 

• strengthening agency and voice

• building critical understanding

• girls’ learning outcomes

• transition to employment

• empowerment

(United Nations Children’s Fund & ITU. 2020, October. Towards an equal future: Reimagining girls’ education through STEM. UNICEF Education. https://www.unicef.org/media/84046/file/Reimagining-girls-education-through-stem-2020.pdf).

Teachers and education programs promote agency when they provide opportunities to solve problems that are meaningful to girls and young women. This technique can increase students’ eagerness to learn, leading to critical understanding. 

Many girls feel inclined to strive for perfection when pursuing careers in STEM, according to recent research. Educators can encourage girls to reach deep understanding while assuring them perfection isn’t necessary.

Teaching Institute also draws from the SciGirls STEM For All Learning Environment gender-equitable framework for classroom strategies that support STEM identity development. Brain-based research on cultural responsiveness (Hammond, 2014) supports this framework because it emphasizes connecting the material to girls’ lived experiences and employing an asset-based approach to learning, ensuring that girls feel safe without criticism and celebrated for their abilities and potential. Furthermore, the STEM for ALL learning environment includes aspects of multicultural education by incorporating role models from diverse backgrounds.

Using this research-based framework, Project Scientist Teaching Institute becomes a place where all of our educators can learn the skills to develop a culturally competent STEM curriculum as part of a supportive community of practice. University experts on culturally responsive math instruction from Lesley University and experts on racial equity from the WE ARE group lead hands-on workshops to engage and inspire educators to make an impact. Our Teaching Institute is supported by Hamline University. Teachers receive university credit or a stipend for workshop attendance. Teachers who successfully complete 10 one-hour courses from our online resource library, or attend all 3 of our workshops, will receive a Project Scientist Teaching Institute Certificate. They may also receive 24 CEUs or 1 College Semester Credit.

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The Project Scientist team of 23 currently includes 14 full-time and 9 part-time/contract staff. 

Project Scientist has been delivering STEM education programs for ten years, since our founding in 2013.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are central to our mission and our impact. Our unwavering commitment to DEI and its guiding principles determines how we build our teams, cultivate our leaders and best serve our young students.

Our board of directors is 85% women and includes many thought leaders in the STEM community. As we grow our staff, diversity is a key tenet in consideration of candidates.

We curate our team of credentialed educators to represent the communities we serve. Our diverse staff is 40% minority represented and mostly female. Our teachers receive training in equity strategies for leading STEM activities. As a PBS SciGirls affiliate, Project Scientist trains our staff on SciGirls strategies to incorporate a gender-equitable approach to STEM, including those highlighted in SciGirls Español and Black SciGIrls.

The pool of volunteers who contribute their time each year as role models and mentors through our STEM Superstar program are majority female. About 450 female STEM professionals currently volunteer with Project Scientist as STEM Superstars. Another 250 professionals volunteer to plan our virtual and in-person expeditions to STEM companies.

Volunteers on our Scientific Advisory Council help ensure our teaching methods are on track. These STEM professionals have a background in education, academia, and workforce development. They are an independent, unbiased group who advise us on content and curriculum development, and enhance our standing when we recruit additional STEM professionals as volunteers.

Through our Summer STEM Lab, After-school STEM Club, year-round Scholars Program, interactive expeditions, parent and caregiver workshops, and culminating with our annual STEM Girls Change the World event, we impart a multi-faceted wraparound approach to sustaining a lifelong pursuit in STEM. In addition to comprehensive instruction and standards-aligned curriculum, our unique pipeline model encourages girls to consider STEM careers through deep engagement with our corporate volunteers, which allows invaluable opportunities for students to have personal experiences with a variety of role models.

We partner with school districts, individual schools, non-profits, and library systems that host participants in person in schools, community centers, and other locations. Our credentialed and certified teachers lead hands-on experiments and activities virtually in real time. They train in-person facilitators as well to assist students on site.

Project Scientist provides laboratory kits with all the equipment that participants need for the hands-on activities. Our hybrid model allows us to bring live STEM programming to any school or group across the country with high-speed Internet access.

Parents and caregivers can also sign up their children for Project Scientist through our website and receive a lab kit in the mail to take part in a virtual classroom. We offer traditional in-person programming as well at top STEM companies and other locations. Our curriculum is tailored by age and aligned with Science and Engineering Practices from the Next Generation Science Standards.

We build our programs around engaging themes that girls love, from climate change to brain science. Students share and reflect upon what they’ve learned, and are encouraged to think deeply about each topic’s relevance to their lives.

Along with stimulating hands-on learning, Project Scientist participants ages 4-12 are inspired by visits with female STEM role models and virtual or in-person expeditions to dozens of STEM universities and companies each year. Past participants have explored behind-the-scenes at Trane Technologies, 3M, JetBlue, CoreLogic, PwC, and many more. These opportunities help students connect their hands-on learning to STEM women who look like them, share their interests, and are successfully pursuing cool STEM careers. 

Through the generosity of private donors, Project Scientist provides scholarships and support to 85% of our participants based on eligibility for free and reduced-price school lunches. We pay for Internet access and a tablet for students who need those resources to participate. Our programs are offered in several time zones.

We highlight subjects that girls want to know about. In recent STEM Clubs, we explored climate change in America's backyard, machine learning, and the chemistry of medicine and pharmacology. Participants engage in conversations about why these topics are relevant to their lives and to the lives of their communities. They also develop science and engineering skills such as asking questions, making observations, performing investigations, collecting evidence and analyzing data. Every lesson includes integrated math moments to complement observations and build mathematical knowledge and skills.

Project Scientist has experienced fundraising success with a corporate partnerships model that engages top U.S.-based STEM employers as both funding partners and program partners. Collaborating with leading U.S. STEM employers such as 3M, Trane Technologies, and Pentair result in meaningful job shadowing and mentoring experiences for both students and volunteers. For example, as part of a recent three-year, $1M award from longtime Project Scientist supporter and partner Trane Technologies, Trane associates serve as career role models for girls in STEM Club and give them a behind-the-scenes look at STEM careers and workplaces.

In combination with corporate, foundation, and government revenue, our budget includes individual supporters and earned revenue in the form of program fees collected from our higher-income students. 85% of students come from under-resourced backgrounds and receive financial aid to attend at no cost to their families.

As a result of our recent strategic planning process, Project Scientist has set a target to raise $5 million in revenue over the course of the next five years. Our first step toward this goal was to hire our full-time Chief Advancement Officer, Nick Boerum, in early 2023, as well as our new Marketing Director, Anushka Gole, under the direction of Senior Vice President for Partnerships and Marketing Christy Anderson. In addition to government, corporate, and foundation grants and sponsorships, our plans to secure and diversify revenue include leveraging relationships with our highly involved volunteer Board of Directors and 3 Regional Councils to strengthen the corporate networks that help to make our work possible. 

Named a 2022 STEM Education Company of the Year, view highlights of Duke Energy’s impact as a valued partner in our featured video here: 

https://projectscientist.org/about-us/meet-our-partners

Other major supporters during 2021-2022 included:

Trane Technologies 2021 $333,500

Trane Technologies 2022 $333,000

Takeda 2022 $333,000 

Lowe's 2021 $100,000

3M 2021 $75,000

Burroughs Wellcome Fund 2021 $60,000.00 

Lowe's 2021 $54,800.00 

Wasserman Foundation 2021 $50,000

Trane Technologies 2021 STEM Girls Change the World event sponsor $50,000

Lowe's 2022 STEM Girls Change the World event sponsor $50,000

Pentair 2022 $50,000