Our Impact and Reach
STEM GIRL DAY AT UT AUSTIN
UT Austin’s national award-winning STEM Girl Day recruitment program, presented by Women in STEM (WiSTEM), gives K-8th graders a chance to explore STEM through grade-appropriate, hands-on activities hosted by scientists, engineers, astronomers, mathematicians, and other STEM enthusiasts from student organizations, research centers, corporate partners and community organizations.
- 9,844 K-8th Graders (86% Girls, 31% Latina/Latino, 8% Black, 85% from Central Texas, 9% from Greater Houston, 6% from Greater San Antonio, 24% Girl Scouts).
- Over 2,000 volunteers from 161 corporate, community, and campus partners led 159 STEM hands-on activities, shows, tours, and demonstrations.
- 80% of participants gained an increased understanding of STEM.
- 90% of participants experienced a welcoming and inspiring STEM community.
ENGINEER YOUR WORLD
An innovative high school engineering curriculum with a dual-enrollment option, exceptional teacher professional development, and ongoing teacher support. Courses are design-based and team-based and engage students in integrated engineering design, computational thinking, and 21st-century skills.
- Twenty-three thousand (23,000) students served in the first seven years.
- Reaching diverse student populations – 42% Hispanic, 10% Black, 32% Women.
- Students report more interest in pursuing engineering and other STEM studies and careers and more confidence that they can succeed upon completing our courses.
- “Engineer Your World is foundational at our campus and, quite frankly, life-changing for many of our students.”
TEXAS ADVANCED COMPUTING CENTER (TACC) EDUCATION & OUTREACH TOURS
TACC tours broaden the awareness of high-performance computing resources and STEM careers.
- 135 tours in 2024.
- 96% of tours engaged K-12 students, educators, and college/university constituents.
- Over 3,360 visitors learned about supercomputing, artificial intelligence, computer programming, and academic and industry pathways within computing.
HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH INITIATIVE
A Texas-wide program that connects high school classrooms to UT research by providing professional development for teachers, project-based curricula, and a supportive network of teachers, UT faculty, and undergraduate students.
- 7+ multi-week teacher trainings provided to 20+ teachers
- 400+ student participants
- 20% of participating schools are from rural districts
- “The experiments made me more interested because I was able to be hands-on and actually see things happen and why. Plus, it was a challenge but not to the point of feeling like one couldn’t do it. I really liked how these experiments were always related to real world situations ….”
- “I loved the idea of having nature at the center of learning instead of staying in the classroom.”
WOMEN IN STEM CAMPS and ACADEMIES
Women in STEM (WiSTEM) on-campus summer camps and virtual academies provide rising 10th through 12th-grade high school students with the opportunity to explore STEM college majors and career paths, gain hands-on STEM experiences and STEM career skills, connect with STEM role models, and learn about university resources and the admissions process.
- 167 high school students participated in WiSTEM Summer 2024 programming. Many students
participated in more than one WiSTEM camp or academy experience, which equated to 269 total
camp or academy engagements. - Participant demographics: 22% sophomores, 38% juniors, 39% seniors; 86.8% used she/her pronouns; 15.6% Hispanic, 9.6% Black, 26.9% White, 37.1% Asian.
- From pre-to post-surveys, there was a 38% increase in agreement that they “have a good understanding of the career paths available should they complete a STEM degree” and a 32% increase in agreement that they are familiar with the engineering design process.
- “This experience opened my eyes to new possibilities to grow in my learning. Not only did I meet new
people and make friends, but the experience made considering college and careers feel more manageable.”
K-5 RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR TEACHERS (RET)
The Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials: an NSF MRSEC hosts a 6-week experiential professional development program for K-5 teachers where teachers work alongside faculty and graduate students in UT science and engineering laboratories, participating in high-level research projects within the field of materials science and developing materials science-based lessons that connect current research to K-5 science and mathematics curricula in the classroom.
- 91% of teachers who’ve participated in the program teach at Title 1 schools in Central Texas.
- 58 teachers have participated since 2017, impacting more than 1,500 students.
- In assessments of RET classroom students, 88% indicate an increased interest in science, and 65% would like to take more STEM electives in middle school.
- “My lessons in science improved, and I was less intimidated when it came to crafting hands-on activities. My students last year did very well on their Science STAAR test because of my experience in the RET program”.
TEXAS-LOUISIANA CARBON MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY (TXLA CMC)
In 2022 and 2023, about 50 carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects were announced along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. To address the need for public understanding of CCS, six universities, including The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, University of Houston, Lamar University, and Louisiana State University, have united to provide essential CCS information through educational and informational initiatives. These efforts span K-12 to graduate education and include creating and distributing educational materials and conducting research on CCS. The initiative, known as TXLA CMC, has also developed CCS-focused STEM curricula for 7th and 8th graders in collaboration with three middle school teachers, aligning with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). To learn more, please see www.put-it-back.org.
DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL HEALTH SCIENCES SUMMER CAMPS
The Health Sciences Summer Camps are an educational opportunity for students interested or motivated to learn more about the health sciences. The camps are designed to inspire, prepare, and expose students to professions within the healthcare field, including those underrepresented in medicine, as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
- 1800 students have participated in Health Sciences Summer Camps since 2015.
- Three (3) Summer 2024 Health Sciences Summer Camps welcomed 183 high school and middle school students from across Texas and beyond:
- High School Camp Insight : 52% URM, 80% female, 43% will be first-generation college students, 52% low socioeconomic status (Free/Reduced Lunch)
- Middle School Camp Insight: 69% URM, 81% female, 37% will be first-generation college students, 89% low socioeconomic status
- “After attending the camp, I feel more validated that I am prepared to pursue healthcare in college and as a career.”
“… the counselors and doctors made me realize that everyone belongs where they are meant to, and being able to feel welcomed definitely grew my capability to feel like I should be in the medical field.”
UT COMPUTER SCIENCE SUMMER ACADEMIES
Week-long immersive residential camps for high school students are taught by UT Computer Science faculty, offering students hands-on experience in Coding, Robotics, Game Development, App Development, and Machine Learning.
- 176 participants from across Texas in the 2024 Scholars Academies: 67% Female, 19% Hispanic, 15% Black or African American
- Hosted 541 total students in 9 programs
- “The academy’s emphasis on fostering a collaborative and inclusive atmosphere has allowed me to build lasting connections with like-minded individuals and solidified my commitment to pursuing a career in computer science.”
DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY OUTREACH
The Department of Astronomy sponsors many public outreach programs, including in partnership with McDonald Observatory staff. Activities on campus in Austin include public star parties three times a week at two different telescopes and field trips for local school groups to visit the solar telescope.
- For the solar telescope field trips, we are currently averaging about K-12 250-300 students a year.
- For the Wednesday night telescope viewing nights, we’re averaging about 1500-2000 people a year, with a mix of general public, K-12 school groups, UT summer camps, UT undergraduate classes, Boy and Girl Scouts, etc.