Communications of the ACM
Alternative STEM Programs Offer Early Career Prep For Students
Student Havan Shaginoff (right) worked alongside wildlife biologists in a lab at the USGS Alaska Science Center as part of a summer field study program.
Credit: U.S. News and World Report
The Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program's (ANSEP) Summer Bridge program included more than 20 high school students who took college-level math courses and interned with science, technology, engineering, or mathematics-oriented agencies or companies. The program "provides students right out of high school an opportunity to put their feet on the ground, roll up their sleeves and go right into their career path," says ANSEP founder Herb Schroeder.
For example, Havan Shaginoff, who will be attending the University of Alaska-Anchorage in the fall, spent June and July working in a microbiology lab alongside wildlife biologists to examine genetic samples of a regional bird at the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center.
Participating in the Summer Bridge program helps students familiarize themselves with college life and a professional environment, according to Schroeder. "It helped me see how college is going to be," says ANSEP Summer Bridge participant Randall Friendly, who spent several weeks working with the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, studying brown bears. "It helps you get used to that kind of workplace and that environment." Schroeder believes the sooner students acquire in-the-field experience in the career industries they wish to pursue, the better.
From U.S. News & World Report
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