Straight From The Mouths Of Students - The Positive Impact Of Diverse Career Role Models

Last month, I had the honor of meeting up with two of our role models – Alexandra (our Electrical Engineer role model) and Chelsea (our Biomedical/Materials Engineer role model). Alexandra and Chelsea are graciously serving as subject matter experts and reviewers for our latest round of R&D – development of Engineering Challenges that will complement our existing Computer Science Challenges.

Before these meetings, I prepared something special for each role model - examples of the verbatim comments that students make after completing Couragion Career Quests. I wanted Alexandra and Chelsea to see firsthand how their role model videos are making a positive difference in students’ lives. I’ve decided to highlight some of these comments in this blog post in order to show educators and advocates how important it is to expose students to careers and diverse career role models…

Example Student Comments Made After Viewing Couragion’s Electrical Engineer Career Quest

• ʻI think being an electrical engineer would be a new challenge that I would be willing to try.ʼ - White Female
• ʻI love engineering, I would be good for this job!’ - Female of Color
• ʻThis quest is very interesting to me - it would be hard but I like that.ʼ - Male of Color

Example Student Comments Made After Viewing Couragion’s Biomedical/Materials Engineer Career Quest

• ‘I learned what a biomedical engineer does and it made me want to push myself harder in school to become a biomedical engineer.’ - Female of Color
• ‘I like the idea of performing experiments in order to improve the lives of others.’ - White Female
• ‘I think that being a biomedical engineer interests me. Honestly I did not know about this career but it caught my attention. I would be looking forward to this career.’ - Female of Color

These quotes are just so powerful and really demonstrate how access to authentic career exploration and diverse role models can inspire students, boost their STEM confidence, and increase their motivation in school. If you’d like to read quotes like this on a regular basis, sign-up for our newsletter where we are launching a ‘Student Voice’ series this month.