Articles

Envision Yourself in STEM

I used to work and do research at a science camp held for blind and low-vision (BLV) students in Taiwan. The camp activities were very interactive and primarily hands-on. Most of the campers were from the elementary to the high school level, from all over the country. Before the camp week, volunteer college students would help instructors prepare and make adaptations of hands-on materials. Most adaptations would be made before the camp. During the camp, the volunteers would continue to make additional adaptations or necessary adjustments for the success of the camp activities. 

I used to think providing adapted science hands-on learning materials would be the solution to all the difficulties that BLV learners encounter in their science education. However, as I got more involved in the field of STEM for BLV, I found the situation more complicated than I had thought. Providing BLV learners with adequate hands-on materials is essential. However, how BLV learners see themselves or are seen by society also plays a crucial role! If a blind or low-vision learner does not or cannot see themself in STEM, they would not have the desire to learn STEM or even think of pursuing a career in STEM fields. If our society continues to perceive BLV persons as incapable of learning STEM subjects or working in STEM fields, BLV persons will continue to experience barriers in their STEM education and pursuit of a STEM career. 

In the summer of 2023, I met my intern, Alejandro Bassiouny, a senior-to-be at The Ohio State University passionate about access to STEM education. As an artist, Bassiouny is talented in using his imagination and creativity to bring ideas to life! He and I had quite a few meetings during the summer. We talked a lot about identity and shared our own identity experiences with each other. He then came up with the Envision-Yourself-in-STEM graphic idea, and we started to co-create the graphic. Our discussions went back and forth and we made numerous edits to the graphic. The result is as the image shown above. 

The Envision-Yourself-in-STEM graphic incorporates the logo of the International Network of STEM for the Blind and Low-Vision (the Network), a purpose-driven nonprofit organization I founded headquartered in the United States. Bassiouny and I paid close attention to the color contrast and made sure the information we wanted the graphic to convey was clear. In the graphic, the puzzle idea was from the Network's logo, which means network with an aim to connect. The two glass lenses include the letters and braille symbols of S, T, E, and M, which implies that a person, regardless of being sighted, blind, or low-vision, sees STEM and further envisions themself in STEM. It is worth mentioning that seeing can be made through not only the eyes but also the heart! 

Many BLV children and youth do not see themselves in STEM. Very often, they are discouraged from learning STEM or pursuing a career in STEM fields. Because my goal has been focused on creating a more just STEM learning world for BLV children and youth, during the graphic-creating process, I realized the graphic could be used as a means to help increase awareness. Therefore, the Envision-Yourself-in-STEM sticker was launched followed by the Envision-Yourself-in-STEM shirt. 

As the Envision-Yourself-in-STEM stickers and shirts are being shipped across the United States as well as to different countries in the world, I hope this graphic contributes to increasing a sense of belonging and justice in our society. Most importantly, I hope everyone, especially children and youth, feels empowered to learn and pursue STEM when they see the graphic or wear the shirt! 

Published in October 2023