Using Psychologically Informed Community-Based Participatory Research to Create Culturally Relevant Informal STEM Experiences

Systemic racism, high turnovers of teachers and administrators, and deindustrialization in Flint, Michigan, have created an environment that limits the opportunities of Flint youth to engage in and succeed in STEM. This paper describes a partnership between university researchers and Flint community members formed to start the task of addressing this issue. We took a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach in which we treated community members as co-creators of informal science experiences (ISEs) that take place outside of the classroom. We also integrated psychological research into our research practices and design. To provide context for our work, we review the current literature on ISE and CBPR. We then share our general approach to forming an understanding of minoritized youths' experiences in STEM in Flint. Next, we discuss how our relationship with the community started, what is working well, the challenges we face, and our recommendations for future researchers. Finally, we discuss the implications of what we have learned and directions for future research.