‘STEM Z’ – Henrico students aim to make STEM opportunities more accessible to all kids

Jobs in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field are in demand and high-paying, with average salaries well over $100,000 a year. 

But who has access to these types of jobs?

Despite some notable progress, the STEM field remains largely white and male dominated, with more than two-thirds of the workforce still composed of men and about two-thirds made up by white workers.

In 2020, three Henrico high-schoolers created the “STEM Z” program with a goal to make the future of STEM more diverse and give more Gen Z-ers opportunities in STEM.

Starting with just a few virtual lessons for elementary-schoolers, STEM Z has now expanded to K-12 students, offering one-on-one tutoring, official computer science courses, hands-on workshops, and community events for little to no cost.

When it comes to STEM access in the Henrico and Richmond areas, some families have many more resources at their disposal than other families, said Chandan Kuchina, a junior at Douglas S. Freeman High School who helps lead STEM Z. Private tutoring, official certification courses, and college prep courses all have significant costs, and even different elementary schools have different amounts of STEM supplies and technology. 

The problem is not a lack of resources, but getting the resources that do exist to the areas and families that could benefit most from them, Kuchina said. 

“It’s not that there’s a lack of people who want to help, it’s a lack of people who know that there are others there to help them,” he said. “Our mission when we were founded was to make STEM education accessible for all, so we’re hoping that we can get closer to that.”

The next step for the entirely volunteer- and student-led program has been to partner directly with Henrico Schools, helping to bridge the STEM accessibility gap by distributing STEM supplies to local schools. 

This past spring, STEM Z worked with local schools in what Kuchina referred to as “STEM hot spots” – areas with more STEM opportunities – to create supply boxes filled with refurbished TI-84 calculators, robotics equipment, and other materials donated by the community. Then, the supply boxes were sent to other schools in the region that could use more STEM supplies.

“We’ve reached out to local elementary schools in [Henrico’s] West End, for example, where we know the people in the schools have the ability to donate,” Kuchina said. “And what we’ll do is we’ll have boxes set up at different schools and different ‘STEM hot spots,’ we like to call it, across the Richmond area, and then take them to the schools that need them.”

For example, during the past few months, STEM Z has worked with Freeman High School to refurbish and redistribute dozens of TI-84 calculators to the Sacred Heart Center’s adult education program for Richmond-area Latino families.

Making the field more accessible to all

Even in schools and areas where STEM education is more accessible, many students are hesitant to explore a field where they see less people like themselves. Despite a diversifying workforce, assumptions of who can and who can’t be successful in STEM continue to impact students, said Akshaya Muniganti, a senior at Deep Run High School and one of the leaders of STEM Z.

“I think starting off myself, as a girl, I came into STEM Z and a lot of our events were male-dominated, so I was like, ‘wow, this is nerve-wracking for me.’ Because the people around me, I feel like they know more than me, they’re confident, they’re smarter than me, I don’t know what’s going on,” Muniganti said. “There’s also a lot of stereotypes of what kind of races are in STEM education.”

Building an inclusive space takes time, said Muniganti, and means working with community partners to reach different communities.

“For me, that’s one thing I focused on as a leader of STEM Z, is trying to make this seem more comfortable and a more acceptable place for people of all genders, of all ages, and all demographics,” she said. “And I think we do have a pretty diverse community now, it’s just taken years to get there.”

STEM accessibility also starts young, by introducing younger students to the world of STEM in fun and creative ways that build up their interest. On Earth Day last year, STEM Z held a daylong workshop for elementary-schoolers on water pollutants, taking the students out to a local creek and having them design their own water filtration systems.

“Really, we want to make sure that they’re able to use their creativity, and that meant they had to be hands-on,” Kuchina said. 

For high school students, STEM Z offers more technically-focused lessons on coding, software development, and even medicine-related skills. As a Henrico high-schooler herself, Muniganti understands how stressful it can be applying for college and internships, especially when competing against students who have more background in STEM.

“We’ve noticed among our high school community specifically that everyone’s so competitive for internships, shadowing opportunities, and there’s only so many,” she said. “And so that’s another thing that we do, we have college prep sessions for students nervous about the college process or STEM specifically, and how they can get STEM opportunities. And we try to combat that struggle, because this area specifically is very, very competitive.”

There is significant interest in STEM among Henrico students, Muniganti said, and plenty of programs and opportunities that offer STEM education. The problem is making sure that students are aware of the opportunities they have around them. STEM Z aims to be that hub of resources for local students, she said. 

“I think specifically in this area, not enough people know what type of courses people offer, what kind of opportunities or workshops there are for STEM. We have a lot of opportunities around us, but no one’s able to kind of put them all together,” she said. “So that’s what we try to do. We try to put them all in one place to where students can go to if they want to look for something STEM-related.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.