Assessing the Effectiveness of ASTC’s VOYA STEM Career Initiatives Grant

Program Evaluation
Written By Cathy Sigmond

Client: Association of Science and Technology Centers | Location: Washington, DC | Funding: VOYA Foundation

 
 

We assessed the effectiveness of the Association of Science and Technology’s VOYA STEM Career Initiatives grant, designed to support science centers in the creation of programs aimed at enhancing youth’s interest in STEM.

OVERVIEW

In 2022, we partnered with ASTC to evaluate the VOYA STEM Career Initiatives grant, designed to support the work of science center programs that strive to enhance the interest of youth audiences in STEM and STEM careers. Eight ASTC science centers across the country were awarded grant funds and designed a diverse array of STEM programs and events for youth ages 8-14 years.

APPROACH

We modified an existing research design created by a past ASTC grantee with three interrelated parts:

  • A post-survey for participants in grantees’ programs that assessed interest in STEM

  • A virtual training for grantees in how to collect and enter survey data

  • Interviews with staff from each grantee organization to reflect on their program experience

CLIENT TAKEAWAYS

We found that the VOYA STEM Career Initiative grant has the potential to foster youth interest in STEM and STEM careers. The evaluation showed that program participants were highly interested in programs that offered experiences to design and build (e.g., robotics). Participants also expressed an interest in STEM careers that connect to these skills, such as technology and engineering. Notably, however, male participants expressed higher levels of interest in building and engineering than female participants, which highlights a potential need for science centers to provide more of these opportunities specifically for girls. 

The unrestricted funds provided by VOYA were key to the science centers’ success because they were able to support staffing and program set-up in a way that is flexible and adaptable. For example, grantees were able to provide participants with food and transportation as part of programs which led to higher participation and greater access. 

Cathy Sigmond

Cathy brings many years of experience in education and experience design to her role as Head of Strategy at Kera Collective. 

Having previously worked in a variety of educational settings, Cathy is driven by her constant fascination and delight at how people make discoveries about the familiar and the unfamiliar. 

Cathy loves helping to shape experiences that spark curiosity and make a difference in people’s lives. She particularly enjoys the rapid, iterative nature of design-based research and the deep insights that come from qualitative research, especially on projects exploring interactions with the digital and built environments. 

Cathy shares her passion for experience design research widely and regularly guest lectures for graduate programs, including the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Exhibition and Experience Design Program and the Pratt Institute’s School of Information. Cathy served as the co-chair of the Museum Computer Network’s Human-Centered Design special interest group from 2018-2021.

Outside of work, you can usually find Cathy playing soccer, thrifting, or making her way through her large cookbook collection. 

Cathy’s favorite museum experiences are immersive; she will always vividly remember walking through the giant heart at the Franklin Institute, being surrounded by birds at the Peabody Essex Museum, and hearing centuries-old instruments come to life at the Museum of Musical Instruments. 

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