On the new episode of the Let’s Talk STEM with Dr. Calvin Mackie podcast, the founder of STEM Global Action (SGA) and Dr. Joyce Baynes, a lifelong educator, discuss actionable options for helping children of color overcome barriers that impede their learning of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills and becoming STEM professionals.  In an engaging conversation, they noted that parents must be more engaged in their children’s education, teachers need improved professional development, K-12 students should have STEM activities outside the classroom and parents should be guiding their children towards summer programs that can provide additional STEM learning opportunities. 

Dr. Mackie and Dr. Baynes acknowledged these measures are necessary because of the discrimination still rampant today that stigmatizes girls and minorities. “In the 12th grade, I took calculus as well as physics. The first day I went to my physics class I looked at the teacher, he looked at me, and he said, ‘I don’t think you belong here,’” recalled Dr. Baynes.  Similarly, Dr. Mackie described being confronted by a professor in a college thermodynamic class. “Are you in the right place?” the Black student was asked.

 Dr. Baynes is a nonprofit executive, retired school superintendent and mathematics educator from Teaneck, New Jersey. Thank you for joining us!