Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Across the United States, equity-oriented STEM initiatives are frequently launched through short-term grants, yet few persist once external funding ends, particularly in economically marginalized communities where institutional capacity is constrained. This longitudinal qualitative study investigates how an out-of-school-time (OST) robotics initiative developed the relational and organizational capacity to transition from a time-limited grant project into a functioning STEM ecosystem that has persisted for a decade. Drawing upon eight years of focus groups and field notes analyzed through integrated deductive and inductive approaches, the study traces how STEM ecosystem tenets were enacted, adapted, and reinforced as partners navigated resource constraints. Findings identify four mutually reinforcing mechanisms that stabilized the ecosystem beyond the grant period: relational infrastructure coordinating work across students, educators, families, university partners, and district leaders; community recognition and collective pride conferring legitimacy and mobilizing local support; parental validation and logistical advocacy; and youth identity development and near-peer leadership renewing commitment and circulating expertise. Together, these mechanisms converted initial grant-funded inputs into durable capacity by reducing coordination costs, strengthening shared responsibility, and embedding STEM participation within community meaning-making. The study contributes to STEM ecosystem research by advancing a theory-building, process-oriented explanation of how equity-focused initiatives achieve durability.
Source: Youth
DOI: 10.3390/youth6020045
Authors: Lezly Taylor, Brenda Brand, Shikhar Kashyap
Institution: Virginia Tech
Language: English
Subfield: Safety Research
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,207
OpenAlex ID: W7154169410