Even research-consumed federal scientists can come to the realization that young U.S. citizens seem little interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), that the scientific community is not representative of a diverse population, and that there will likely be few young U.S. citizen-scientists to someday take their places.
Pride in our nation and its accomplishments encourages us to come up with a sound solution. The USA faces an enormous shortage of scientists and engineers in the future due to a lack of effective introduction of science and mathematics to all students during important formative periods in their educations. It's clear that large student populations no longer have mentors to guide their young students to careers in STEM fields. A vocation for a STEM career does not come from one museum exhibit, from a tour of a federal research laboratory, or from participation in a career fair. Rather, it comes from carefully designed and continuing handson, inquiry-based science modules and authentic research/laboratory experiences that build in content and experience. Beginning over 15 years ago and with several existing tools and lots of energy and ideas for new interventions, scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) created the following paid student research internships, which are capable of developing the talent extant in all young people.
- Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science (GEMS)
- Science and Engineering Apprentice Program (SEAP)
- College Qualified Leaders (CQL).
Designed at WRAIR under grants from the National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources (principal investigators Drs. Marti Jett and Debra Yourick), the GEMS program is now sustained by the U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program (USAEOP) and held in federal and university environments www.usaeop.com; GEMS is now offered elsewhere in the U.S. via USAEOP dissemination. Through careful evaluation, GEMS has been shown to effectively prepare diverse, less-advantaged, but enthusiastic middle/high school students for advanced STEM activities. The students are taught in a teaching laboratory by near-peer mentors (college students in the CQL program), who translate current research and scientific concepts into experiments suitable for GEMS students. Nearpeer mentors also act as much-needed and effective role models for the GEMS participants by encouraging them to take difficult science and math classes, and by enlightening them about college life and pathways to careers. The GEMS program builds student confidence and interest in increasingly more difficult and exciting summer experiences from one to four weeks in length over several years. The aim is that the most advanced GEMS program prepares students to participate in SEAP, an eight-week laboratory experience, or the CQL program, as much as years-long internships and teaching experiences that open up STEM career opportunities.
