(Illustration by Chen via Pixabay) field_54b3f951675b3

ACCORDING TO A report released this past summer by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Massachusetts’s clean energy workforce will need to expand by 30,000 full-time workers to meet the state’s 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. 

Recruiting and training this workforce will require cooperation across sectors to identify and implement creative solutions. Afterschool is an important piece of the puzzle, as it can help guide youth into critical science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines and fill the much-needed talent pipeline. But programs need long-term, sustainable funding to make this happen. Legislation filed by Sen. Brendan Crighton, S.255, would create an out-of-school time opportunity fund that could help secure funding so our children and youth can participate in essential STEM afterschool and summer programs.

Hundreds of Massachusetts afterschool programs are supporting students’ STEM learning, providing them with opportunities to engage in hands-on activities in supportive environments. High-quality programs offer connections with mentors that look like the students they serve and share similar life experiences, helping to demystify the various pathways students can take to work as engineers, scientists, and technicians.

In afterschool programs, kids don’t have the pressure to pass a test and get good grades — they get to work together and learn through trial and error, creating strong networks of support to increase their persistence on their trajectories to higher education and careers in STEM.

Recent studies have shown that participating in STEM-focused afterschool programs led to “major, positive changes in students’ attitudes toward science.” 

At Science Club for Girls, a 29-year-old nonprofit serving the Greater Boston area, girls and gender-expansive youth from underrepresented communities routinely report having confidence in and curiosity about STEM, feeling a sense of belonging in STEM and having interest in pursuing a job in STEM in the future. Over the last 13 years, over 90 percent of Science Club for Girls’ high school juniors and seniors have gone to college (compared to the national average of 66 percent), with more than 55 percent majoring in STEM fields. 

Afterschool can help address equity and the climate change crisis, which is disproportionately impacting historically and currently marginalized communities in our state. Take for example the Greater Boston area, where communities of color can be up to 15 degrees hotter than predominantly white neighborhoods on the same day.

The supportive learning environments and hands-on experiences inside afterschool programs are especially important for children of color who so often face structural and institutional barriers to entering STEM fields. Afterschool STEM programs can help students learn about climate change through relevant, real-world problems and solutions in their own communities, and help us build solutions that directly address structural racism as it shows up in the climate crisis.

While many high-quality STEM afterschool programs exist, the demand far exceeds the supply. A 2022 survey found that for every one child in an afterschool program in Massachusetts, three more are waiting to get in. The high demand for STEM afterschool programs illustrates that underrepresentation in STEM is not due to lack of interest or aptitude, but rather barriers to access.

Federal COVID-19 relief dollars have helped sustain programs that may have had to close their doors, but the upcoming end of federal recovery funding in 2025 will result in reduced access to critical afterschool STEM programs. 

Cooperation and increased financial support from state and local governments, industries, universities and colleges can help afterschool programs and our children and youth thrive. Sen. Crighton’s bill would create one source of funding to support increased access to high-quality STEM programs – a 3 percent excise tax on legal cannabis sales deposited into an out-of-school time opportunity fund. If it were passed, programs could count on reliable funding to increase the quality of their STEM programs and expand access to students who need them most.

We are missing out on many brilliant scientists and engineers when the pathways to becoming scientists and engineers aren’t clear or accessible. Investing in afterschool STEM programs is a low-risk, high return venture to bring diverse perspectives to bear on identifying more robust solutions to today and tomorrow’s STEM-based challenges.

All children and youth in Massachusetts (and beyond) deserve and need these opportunities. Not only do we all benefit from this investment, but our future depends on it.

Chloe Anne McElligott is the director of outreach and engagement at the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership, a statewide nonprofit organization that seeks to increase access to afterschool programs to better prepare children and youth for life beyond school.