[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-590434-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-590434-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","long-term-participants-a-museum-program-enhances-girls-stem-interest-motivation-and-persistence","Long-Term Participants - A museum Program enhances girls’ STem interest, motivation, and Persistence","","Long-term participation in a museum-based out-of-school-time (OST) science program is examined through exploratory research on a small focus group of young women of color. The study highlights how sustained involvement in the Lang Science Program supports perseverance and confidence, helping participants build science identity and move from initial interest toward STEM self-efficacy, skills, and career readiness. It situates findings within ongoing challenges of gender and racial underrepresentation in STEM and the role museums play in meaningfully engaging learners.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/long-term-participants-a-museum-program-enhances-girls-stem-interest-motivation-and-persistence/590434/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/long-term-participants-a-museum-program-enhances-girls-stem-interest-motivation-and-persistence/590434.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Pentious","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-03","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does the document say about the impact of long-term participation in the Lang Science Program?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Long-term participation is linked to building perseverance and confidence, which helps participants pursue and persist in STEM majors and careers.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Why are out-of-school time (OST) science programs important according to the document?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"They influence many young people’s science learning trajectories, especially for students from groups underrepresented in science who face inadequate resources in school.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the document describe the role of museums in STEM learning?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Museums provide personally meaningful access to science, support positive science-related identities, and often help youth pursue science careers.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},590434,1792893880,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":111,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":117,"preview_page_count":4},1374404730887,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Long-Term Participants  \nA museum Program enhances girls’ STem interest, motivation, and Persistence  \nby Jennifer D. Adams, Preeti Gupta, and Alix Cotumaccio  \n“Had I not been a participant in Lang, I don’t think I would have pursued biomedical engineering in college. I definitely would have been intimidated by it and perceived it as an unapproachable subject. My science background, developed though years at Lang, gave me confidence to succeed at Johns Hopkins through a very difficult freshman year.”  \nAs an alumna of the Lang Science Program at the American Museum of Natural History shared this sentiment, others in the focus group nodded in agreement. They chimed in with their own stories of having built perseverance and confidence in the multi-year Lang program. All of these Lang alumnae were either majoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields or beginning STEM careers.  \nOut-of-school time (OST) science programs play an important role in influencing the trajectory of science learning for many young people. OST programs are especially important for students from groups un-  \nderrepresented in science, who, more often than not, attend schools with inadequate science education resources (Rahm, 2008) . Programs like Lang Science have great potential for young women of color, who often have to grapple with both race- and genderbased barriers to STEM careers (Modi, Schoenberg, & Salmond, 2012) .  \nJENNIFER D. ADAMS is an associate professor of science education at Brooklyn College, City University of New York (CUNY) . She received her doctoral degree in urban education from the Graduate Center, CUNY. She previously worked at the American Museum of Natural History and the New York City Department of Education. She uses sociocultural and geographical theory to study learning in informal science education contexts.  \nPREETI GuPTA is the director of youth learning and research atthe American Museum of Natural History. She has a doctoral degree in urban education from the Graduate Center, CUNY. Her research interests include youth trajectories, workforce development issues, and science identity development.  \nALIx COTuMACCIO is the assistant director of youth initiatives atthe American Museum of Natural History. She has an M.S. Ed in science education from Lehman College and a J. D. from Pace Law School. Alix’s research interests focus on the longitudinal effects on participants of informal science institutions’ science education programs.  \nOver the last ten years, OST science programs have multiplied to increase young people’s exposure to science (Bell, Lewenstein, Shouse, & Feder, 2009) . However, there are still not enough opportunities for long-term engagement , which is essential to move youth from having interest in science to having the skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy to pursue careers in science (Hidi & Renninger, 2006) . This article describes findings from exploratory research conducted to document the experiences of a small group of young women of color who participated in a museum-based OST program during their middle and high school years. We were particularly interested in learning how their long-term participation in the Lang Science Program mediated their developing interests and identities as people who like science, understand science, want to do science, and can persevere in STEM majors and careers.  \nUnderrepresentation of Women in Science  \nUnderrepresentation of African-American and Latina women in STEM fields is a long-standing issue. The seminal Double Bind report of 1976 identified the inequities in STEM fields for women of color (Ong, Wright, Espinosa, & Orfield, 2010) . Since that initial report, the numbers of women of color pursuing STEM careers has increased. However, this progress has been “uneven and inconsistent,” and “disturbing patterns of racial and gender stratification by STEM discipline” persist (Malcom & Malcom, 2011, p. 165) . Although a growing body of empirical ","cbCaihWyf3uTYiA5","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihWyf3uTYiA5","pdf",757097,"English","# Long-Term Participants\n## Underrepresentation of Women in Science\n## Museums and STEM Learning","[{\"question\":\"What does the document say about the impact of long-term participation in the Lang Science Program?\",\"answer\":\"Long-term participation is linked to building perseverance and confidence, which helps participants pursue and persist in STEM majors and careers.\"},{\"question\":\"Why are out-of-school time (OST) science programs important according to the document?\",\"answer\":\"They influence many young people’s science learning trajectories, especially for students from groups underrepresented in science who face inadequate resources in school.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the document describe the role of museums in STEM learning?\",\"answer\":\"Museums provide personally meaningful access to science, support positive science-related identities, and often help youth pursue science careers.\"}]","Long-Term Participants - A museum Program enhances girls’ STem interest, motivation, and Persistence | PDF",1792069626]