STEM Opportunities

In Prison Settings (STEM-OPS)

STEM-OPS is an NSF Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES Alliance working to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities in prisons and supporting access to STEM (broadly defined) for those who are directly impacted by the carceral system.

Registration is now open for the 2022 STEM-OPS Annual Convening in St. Louis, MO, October 25–27.

Authentic Voices

Meet Syrita Steib, Executive Director, Operation Restoration. Operation Restoration supports women and girls impacted by incarceration in recognizing their full potential, restoring their lives, and discovering new possibilities.

Listen to Syrita discuss the service of restoration

Authentic Voices

Stanley Andrisse, PhD, MBA
Upon his release from prison Stan wrote a captivating story, “From Prison Cells to PhD,” detailing how resilience and inner strength can be combined to overcome mountainous barriers to reach one’s full potential.

Meet Stanley

Authentic Voices

Noel fell in love with education while in prison, and he turned that love—in conjunction with his experience with substance abuse—into a passion for STEM. For his PhD and post-doctoral work at Stanford, he has researched the effects of, and recovery from, substance abuse, while also serving as an alcohol and substance abuse counselor.

Noel's Work

Read Eden’s blog on Pell restoration

Eden Badertscher is a STEM educator at EDC. She entered STEM education in order to support equitable access and opportunity to those who our education system underserves or pushes out of school. A personal experience as a young person focused Eden on the STEM education of directly impacted people.

Our Vision: All persons impacted by the carceral system are able, and encouraged, to pursue a culturally responsive and equitable high-quality STEM education and career.

Podcast

EDC’s Eden Badertscher and Stan Andrisse, director of the Prison to Professionals (P2P) program discuss STEM-OPS, a collaborative effort to improve STEM learning opportunities in prisons.

WHAT DO THESE FACTS MAKE YOU THINK ABOUT?

FACTS ABOUT STEM

While women constitute almost 50% of the labor market, there are only 28% of women in STEM fields as opposed to 72% of men.

www.builtbyme.com/statistics-facts-women-in-stem/

FACTS ABOUT INCARCERATION

Women’s incarceration has grown at twice the pace of men’s incarceration in recent decades, and has disproportionately been located in local jails.

www.prisonpolicy.org/factsheets/women_pie_chart_report_2019.pdf

Why STEM?

STEM education in the United States offers access to in-demand, well-paying jobs, including but not limited to civic participation, entrepreneurship, policy, and social sciences.
Not only are STEM jobs plentiful in the United States these days, but they also usually pay better than non-STEM jobs, helping people build better lives for themselves and their families.

Learn More About STEM

Why STEM in prisons?

Access to STEM jobs is not equal for everyone. Over the past 25 years, prison education programs that teach STEM skills have been cut, effectively preventing individuals who are incarcerated from entering the STEM workforce after they have served their sentences. The lack of investment in prison education is evidence that systemic racism continues to shape educational and economic realities in the United States.

Learn More About Incarceration

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

Working at the Intersection of Art, Activism, and Anti-Carcerality

March 27, 4 PM

Job Opportunity: Assistant Vice President for Correctional Education

April 1, 4 PM

Featured Resources

Get Involved

Would you like to stay informed about new resources, new efforts, and new issues? Sign up here!