Informal STEM Education for Underrepresented Racial Minorities: Students’ Perceptions of the Imhotep’s Legacy Academy After-school Programme

Abstract

This study explores students' perceptions of the Imhotep's Legacy Academy After-School Project (ILASP), an after-school STEM programme offered to Nova Scotian students of African descent. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed to understand students' beliefs about how the Imhotep's Legacy Academy (ILA) has impacted their views of STEM fields, their academic choices, and their career aspirations. First, data were collected in the quantitative phase of the study through online surveys and then a case study approach was used to collect data in the qualitative phase, which involved face-to-face interviews, and students' drawings. The findings indicated that the hands-on activities offered by the ILA reached a wide array of learners and helped them to have positive STEM experiences, nurturing their desires to pursue STEM academics and STEM careers.