Contributing to a sustainable ecosystem that gives folks in under-resourced communities new opportunities to explore educational and career pathways into STEAM fields
Growth in well-paying jobs in STEAM is unparalleled, yet Black and Latine youth and women are severely underrepresented in these fields. Two senior faculty of the City University of New York, Stan Altman and Brian Schwartz, wanted to understand why, despite significant work in this area, there has been little progress in diversifying these fields.
Modeled on the successful approach employed by Trinity College’s Science Gallery Dublin and its offshoot Science Gallery International, Science and Arts Engagement New York, Inc. (SAENY), a not-for-profit, established and created the Harlem Gallery of Science (HGS) to address the unique needs of 11- to 24-year-olds growing up in inner city neighborhoods of New York City.
Pursuing STEAM educational and career pathways is challenging for these youth, who all too often attend under-resourced schools, have limited afterschool resources to support them in exploring these fields, and see few role models who look like them in positions of achievement in STEAM fields.
The HGS has demonstrated that its approach is effective and engaging its target population through its interactive STEAM exhibitions on basketball and music, and programs inspiring youth to imagine their future possibilities. Two of these programs are its successful peer-mentoring program with the National Society of Black Physicists, which pairs college students of color with middle- and high school students in West Harlem; and a digital game-design initiative involving the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, City College and Urban Arts Partnership to prepare Black and Latinx youth for careers in the growing video-gaming and creative arts industries in New York City.
To house its exhibits and programs, SAENY is raising funds for a permanent home for the gallery to serve as a convening place for students, community members, college faculty, business and civic leaders, as well as tourists.
