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Abstract
Citywide initiatives to promote educational opportunities are levers for social change (Appio et al., 2019) that also risk reproducing social inequalities (Godec et al., 2021). Out-of-school time networks have developed in many cities to promote access to youth programs and activities that foster development, bolster academic outcomes, and open career pathways (Allen et al., 2017). Networks have long been shown to play a role in the adoption of innovations (Ryan & Gross, 1943). Community educational networks or STEM ecosystems specialize in promoting content relating to topics of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). There has been increasing demand for STEM programs which exists alongside a scarcity of resources and expertise (Afterschool Alliance, 2014; Liou & Daly, 2021; Henderson et al., 2011). To overcome these hurdles, networks make strategic efforts to mobilize resources with the “goal of creating institutional and broad infrastructure support for activities and programs that contribute to child and youth development in the out-of-school time hours” (Hall & Harvey, 2002, p. 3).
The maintenance of innovations, including educational services, can be a challenge especially in times of social crisis (Pemberton, 1937). There is little known about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the factors that influence the sustainability of STEM programs in OST. While there is a growing demand for access (Afterschool Alliance, 2014), there is also a lack of research on the sustainability of STEM educational activities in OST settings. Evaluating disparate organizations each with unique goals and strategies relating to a single citywide initiative presents a challenge for researchers (Baum, 2001). The present research utilizes an implementation science framework to fill a gap in the literature on the factors relating to the sustainability of STEM in OST. This empirical research explores STEM networks in two US cities in 2020. This research describes facilitators and barriers to sustaining STEM education in various contexts (e.g., school-related programs, community-based programs).
Using a mixed-methods design around an implementation science framework, the researcher explores program and workplace factors relating to sustainability. This research applies a previously validated instrument, the Sustained Implementation Support Scale (SISS; Hodge et al., 2017), to STEM education in OST settings. The self-survey instrument assesses STEM educators’(n=67) perceptions across five constructs shown in literature as sustaining educational programs and includes measures of, program benefits, program burden, workplace support, workplace cohesion, and leadership style. An additional construct, network support, was also included in the analyses to determine their relations to a dependent variable of interest, program sustainment. A qualitative component includes a collection of educators’ open-ended responses for data triangulation. Implications for leadership and practitioners are discussed.
