Now that you have the basics of engineering and the design process down, let’s take a step back and look at Design Squad Latinx as a whole. Design Squad is a program that gets kids (primarily ages 10-13) excited about engineering by providing them opportunities to solve community problems using the design process. Design Squad emphasizes the connection between engineering and the problem solving we do in our everyday lives.
Design Squad Latinx is a program designed for Latinx communities in the U.S. and Latin America. There is broad consensus that a strong STEM workforce is an essential component of the future economy, in the U.S., Latin America, and across the globe. However, as important as the STEM field is, it has traditionally lacked diversity, with lower levels of participation from women, people from low-income backgrounds, and Latinx communities and other ethnic minorities.
It’s clear that increasing Latinx participation in STEM, and engineering in particular, is not only a critical need, but an issue of equity. And that’s where Design Squad Latinx (and YOU!) comes in. Design Squad Latinx focuses on Latinx kids specifically, utilizing a community and strengths-based approach to engineering, encouraging Latinx kids to recognize their own existing funds of knowledge as a means to solve problems that matter to them and their community and connect with the ideas of more formal engineering education. In doing so, Design Squad Latinx aims to act as a bridge for Latinx kids to the more formal world of engineering, supporting them to see themselves as the engineers they are!
Only 8% of U.S. adults in the STEM job cluster are of Hispanic/Latino origin. (Student Research Foundation, 2020)
Latin America is home to over 10% of the world’s population but accounts for only 5% of the global scientific output. (Ferreira, Carosso, and Montellano, 2019)
Only 20% of all (U.S.) engineering bachelor’s degree holders are women, and for women of color the statistics are even more dismal. Less than 4% of engineering bachelor’s degrees are awarded to African American, Hispanic, and Native American women combined. (De la Rosa, 2020)