Developing a Citizen Science Model to Engage Members of Underrepresented Minority Groups Exploratory Study Final Report

While interest in citizen science as an avenue for increasing scientific engagement and literacy has been increasing, understanding how to effectively engage underrepresented minorities (URMs) in these projects remains a challenge. Based on the research literature on strategies for engaging URMs in STEM activities and the project team’s extensive experience working with URMs, the project team developed a citizen science model tailored to URMs that included the following elements: 1) science that is relevant to participants’ daily lives, 2) removal of barriers to participation, such as transportation, faced by URMs, 3) hands-on, authentic science, 4) work alongside a scientist, 5) opportunities for repeated and ongoing participation, 6) leaders who are reflective of the community, 7) experiences that are guided as opposed to self-guided.

A citizen science initiative based on this model was developed and piloted in a single, ethnically diverse, low socioeconomic status (SES) community in Southern California with high numbers of URMs between March 2014 and July 2015. The initiative was developed and refined between March 2014 and January 2015 and an exploratory pilot study was conducted to gather data on the potential effects of the initiative between January and July 2015. This report is a summary of findings from the exploratory study, which examined participation, retention, learning of STEM, and interest in STEM during the citizen science initiative.