Driving innovation in the field of afterschool and summer STEM to revolutionize how we prepare youth for the future of work.
STEM jobs are growing at twice the rate of non-STEM jobs, with 65% of today’s youth expected to face careers that don’t yet exist. And yet only a small fraction of young people across America have access to the hands-on STEM experiences outside of school that are proven to help them explore and prepare for the careers of tomorrow.
The Institute for a STEM Ready America acts now to address this urgent gap, rapidly scaling what works in afterschool and summer programs to excite 20 million more youth with STEM by 2030.
Through these Centers of Excellence, the Institute ensures that what kids learn and explore in STEM programs today aligns with the careers of tomorrow. Each focuses on a high-opportunity STEM field, forging dynamic partnerships between industry and afterschool and summer programs.
Inspires youth to explore AI, advanced manufacturing, and the cutting-edge tech shaping our digital world.
Connects youth to big ideas in aerospace, geoscience, and the future of space exploration.
Engages youth in the science of healing, discovery, and innovation in human health and biotech.
To keep pace with rapid advances in STEM, we’re supporting the out-of-school-time field with bold, future-focused strategies. The Institute for a STEM Ready America helps youth discover their passions, develop critical skills, and see themselves in the careers shaping our world.
Central to the Institute is our career-connected learning strategy to transform how the field prepares young people for STEM futures. With resources specifically crafted for out-of-school settings and in-depth educator training, we help programs offer youth experiences that build durable skills, confidence and long-term opportunity.
The Institute accelerates innovation with time-bound challenge grants that invite afterschool leaders to pilot and scale fresh ideas. By combining funding, training and technical assistance, these grants help programs bring cutting-edge STEM experiences to youth.
We amplify youth voices in STEM by sharing their stories and experiences through our Flight Crew program. National campaigns showcase to young people and decision-makers alike that STEM is everywhere and for everyone.
As a core initiative of the Institute for a STEM Ready America, The EC² project of STEM Next integrates out-of-school time STEM programs into workforce development systems to prepare young people for the future of work with hands-on career exploration.
The pilot project is a partnership with our afterschool network affiliates in Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, and South Dakota, with a model designed for nationwide expansion. It creates a new model for STEM career readiness that addresses critical national needs:
Developed by STEM Next with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the STEM Ready America report is a compendium from 40 authors presenting bold and persuasive evidence—as well as real-world examples of effective practices, programs, and partnerships—on how STEM experiences outside of school are preparing young people to be successful in school today and the workforce tomorrow.
This compelling evidence laid the groundwork for the Institute for a STEM Ready America at STEM Next.
The Institute for a STEM Ready America is built on a decade of research and field-tested innovation. These frameworks and strategies help out-of-school educators and field leaders spark curiosity, strengthen family engagement, and build pathways that prepare young people for the future.
These companion resources help out-of-school programs expand high-quality career-connected learning. The Career-Connected Learning Framework supports providers in designing hands-on experiences that build career awareness, exploration, and preparation. The Building Bridges with Industry Playbook offers practical guidance for forming and sustaining partnerships with employers that open doors to real-world STEM opportunities. Together, they help programs strengthen learning experiences and the relationships that make them possible.
Visit our Events page to register for upcoming trainings on these resources. Each event listing is updated after an event concludes with a form to access the recording, so you can revisit the content anytime.
This framework provides research- and practice-based strategies to expand participation in STEM. It helps programs identify and address barriers, create welcoming spaces, and design experiences that support youth who have historically had fewer opportunities to engage in STEM learning.
This resource outlines ten core engineering practices that help young people think and solve problems like engineers. It supports programs in cultivating teamwork, creativity, real-world problem-solving, and design thinking—skills that strengthen STEM learning and build confidence.
This project equips programs and families with tools to work together in strengthening youth curiosity, confidence, and persistence in STEM. By making family engagement central to learning, it helps programs create environments where young people feel supported, motivated, and able to see themselves in future STEM pathways.
This research-based framework, created with UC Irvine’s Connected Learning Lab, helps programs connect learning across schools, families, and communities. It offers practical strategies for supporting youth as they move between settings, sustain STEM interest over time, and access experiences that build toward future opportunities.
Here are a few of the latest tools, activities and opportunities available to the field through the Institute for a STEM Ready America.
Engineers Week—and this year’s theme, Transform Your Future—is the perfect opportunity to…
To make STEM more accessible for afterschool educators, we’ve outlined a checklist…
In partnership with Verizon™, a new set of online Learning Journeys are…
R³ is a new initiative designed to strengthen math relationships, relevance, and…
Here are the latest news, perspectives and success stories about our work through the Institute for a STEM Ready America.
Winning submissions stood out for their creativity, youth engagement, impact, and incorporation…
STEM Next has partnered with Illumina to bring the power and wonder…
Airing on CBS this Saturday, Nov. 8, and next Saturday, Nov. 15,…
Help us shape the future for a STEM-ready generation.
