Polygon Created with Sketch. Home | Research

STEM for Indigenous Learners

Indigenous people continue to be underrepresented in STEM occupations, which carry political as well as economic weight in our society.

Indigenous communities want to see increased representation of their members in these important positions and see Indigenous ways of knowing incorporated into STEM curricula and professional practices.

Youth working together to plant a tree.

Cross-cultural approaches may help improve educational outcomes for Indigenous learners in STEM fields. They may also help educators and STEM professionals better understand and appreciate Indigenous values, learning styles, and traditional ways of knowing. Educators want to know which approaches work in cross-cultural STEM education, but the evidence base is currently limited. Similarly, public policy officials need to know which approaches to STEM education are worth funding, and which have the best return on investment.

This project will identify innovative examples of Indigenous STEM initiatives across Canada that are making a difference to learners, and will explore how and why they are effective.

View Related Research

Person on computer using an AI image generator app
Research

Rising Concerns About the Impact of New Technologies on Employment

The proportion of Canadian workers who are worried about losing their job in the coming years because the work they do will soon be done by computers or robots has increased, and this cannot be accounted for simply by pointing to growing pessimism about the economy in general. Rather, there is a more direct relationship between concerns about the impact of automation on employment, and the use of AI programs at work.
Group of young coworkers analyzing data while sitting in front of computers while one of them looking through notes in notebook
Research

Scoping a PIAAC Research Agenda: Programme for the International Assessments of Adult Competencies

This project was initiated to develop a Canadian PIAAC research agenda that can guide policymakers, researchers and practitioners in using these new data to close knowledge gaps, enhance policy decisions and improve national performance in skills development.
Bread field harvesting
Research

Technology and Agriculture: Adoption and Barriers

Without explicit educational support, small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) and diverse-owned agribusiness may be left out of the AgTech revolution. Skills-based supports are needed to maintain market competitiveness and ensure technology literacy and adoption issues are equalized—not accentuated—among groups.
View all Research