• Français
Future Skills Center logo
Français
Polygon Created with Sketch. Home | Research
Research

Learning Together: STEM Outreach Programs for Indigenous Students

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach programs seek to engage people in interactive, real-world experiences. Facilitators of these programs are often post-secondary students studying STEM, STEM researchers or professionals, or science communicators.

In Learning Together: STEM Outreach Programs for Indigenous Students, we were interested in free STEM programs, not run by the formal education system, that target Indigenous children in Kindergarten to Grade 12. We surveyed these programs across Canada to learn more about how they reach Indigenous youth.

Key Takeaways

1

Outreach programs do increase participants’ interest in STEM. It is not yet clear whether these programs have a long-term impact on education and career choices.

2

Organizations reported understanding how critical it is to build respectful relationships from the start. Many are working with potential hosts—and some with the youth themselves—to develop their programs

3

Outreach programs are trying to improve Indigenous education and representation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. These programs are interested in exposing children and youth to STEM role models and career options in STEM fields.

Executive Summary

In response to a national conversation about reconciliation, governments, the formal education system, and non-profit organizations are addressing educational gaps and improving the representation of Indigenous peoples in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with extra attention and resources. This awareness, combined with an increasing focus on equity issues in STEM, has increased efforts to bring STEM outreach to Indigenous students.

STEM outreach programs require intensive partnerships. These relationships rely on ongoing and respectful communication, trust, and consensus-building. The time, resources, and intercultural capacities required on both sides of this partnership should not be underestimated.

For the purposes of this research, we were interested in free STEM programs, not run by the formal education system, that target Indigenous children in Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K–12). We surveyed these programs across Canada to learn more about how they reach Indigenous youth. We included responses from 50 organizations offering 103 programs that met the criteria for inclusion in our analysis. Many other programs also reach Indigenous youth, as a part of general programs for all children in Canada, as well as many initiatives run by the K–12 education system. Staff from outreach organizations, Indigenous and non-Indigenous schools, and post-secondary institutions were interviewed.

Our survey asked why organizations were doing STEM outreach to Indigenous youth. The responses below are grouped by theme and listed in order of the frequency of responses, beginning with the most common response.

Related Content

artificial intelligence (ai) and machine learning (ml)
Research

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment, Productivity and Skills Development in Quebec

  • July 2025
  • Institut du Québec
This research project aimed to produce a report on the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on the Quebec labour market.
2 Related Reports
A mother working from home embraces her young child
Research

The Impact of Having Children on Careers

  • July 2025
  • Environics Institute, Diversity Institute
The findings of this report address two related issues. The first concerns the penalties women face when they become mothers, notably loss of employment income and diminished career opportunities. The second is the concern that younger adults in Canada today may be less interested than previous generations were in having children.
1 Related Reports
Research

Supporting Mid-Career Workers with Disabilities

  • July 2025
  • Ontario Tech University, 3+ Economic Development Corporation
This project, Supporting Mid-Career Workers with Disabilities, focused on addressing the employment barriers that persons with disabilities, particularly those aged 35 to 49, face in Canada.
3 Related Reports
View all Research