How is STEM children's programming prioritizing diversity?

Date:
October 16, 2020
Source:
Michigan State University
Summary:
The first large-scale analysis of characters featured in
STEM-related educational programming revealed that of the characters
appearing in STEM television programming for kids ages 3 to 6,
Latinx and females are left behind.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Children's television programming not only shapes opinions and
preferences, its characters can have positive or negative impacts on
childhood aspiration, says a new study from Michigan State University.


==========================================================================
The study is the first large-scale analysis of characters featured
in science, technology, engineering and math-related educational
programming. It was published in the fall 2020 edition of Journal of
Children and Media. Results revealed that of the characters appearing
in STEM television programming for kids ages 3 to 6, Latinx and females
are left behind.

"Children soak up subtleties and are learning and taking cues from
everything; by age 5, you can see that they understand implicit biases,"
said Fashina Alade', lead author of the study and assistant professor
in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. "With the recent proliferation of STEM television over the past five years or so, I wanted
to see who was showing kids how to solve problems, who is teaching STEM foundations and who is modeling what it looks like to engage in STEM."
To get a picture of the entire landscape of STEM programming available to children, Alade' and colleagues -- Alexis Lauricella of Erikson Institute, Yannik Kumar from University of Chicago and Ellen Wartella of Northwestern University -- looked to Nielsen, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu for a list of children's shows that mentioned keywords like science, math, technology
or problem-solving in their descriptions.

The researchers looked at 30 shows with target audiences between 3- and
6-year- olds, all claiming to teach some aspect of STEM. Coders watched 90 episodes total -- three episodes from each show's most recent season --
and coded over 1,000 characters who appeared on the shows for physical attributes, gender, race and ethnicity.

"Surprisingly, when it came to the centrality of their role and
on-screen STEM engagement, characters were portrayed relatively equally regardless of their race or gender," Alade' said. "But, female and
minority characters were underrepresented in these programs compared
to population statistics." An interesting finding, Alade' said, was
that racially ambiguous characters - - including non-human skin tones,
like pink or purple -- comprised 13% of the characters, which she
suggests illustrates producers' attempts to show racial diversity. "The
jury's still out on whether those subtle cues are effective," Alade'
said. Additionally, the study also found that only 14% of the shows
showed occupations related to STEM.

"Animation presents such an opportunity for representation. Ideally,
we'd see authentic representation -- not representative stereotypes,"
Alade' said. "I hope we move in a direction where kids see what scientists really look like in today's world, where doctors, engineers and computer scientists come from all ethnicities and genders."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Michigan_State_University. Original
written by Caroline Brooks. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Fashina Alade', Alexis Lauricella, Yannik Kumar, Ellen
Wartella. Who's
modeling STEM for kids? A character analysis of children's
STEM-focused television in the U.S.. Journal of Children and Media,
2020; 1 DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2020.1810087 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201016114928.htm

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