Northern Michigan University is poised to launch a two-year pilot project aimed at boosting the number of American Indian and Alaska Native female college graduates, particularly in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

The project will also address the “lack of American Indian teaching methods within the sciences education curricula.”

The work is made possible with a $300,000 from the National Science Foundation.

Thirty-seven projects nationwide received the first awards presented through NSF INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science). NMU’s Center for Native American Studies and its Office of Diversity and Inclusion will implement the pilot program called, “Indigenous Women Working within the Sciences.”

The NMU grant will be used to provide  raining for K-16 STEM educators on American inclusive methods and materials; college preparation opportunities that will make it possible for American Indian and Alaska Native high school students to expand their experience with inclusive STEM practices. It will also put in place educational mentors, primarily from the sciences, for female students in the program as they transition from high school to college.

“By introducing American Indian methods and materials to K-16 STEM educators, we will be inviting them to teach beyond the conventional academic box,” April Lindala, director of NMU’s Center for Native American Studies, said in a statement. “This will benefit all students by fostering a deeper appreciation for American Indian culture, as well as positively impacting the number of AI/AN students enrolling in STEM fields at the post-secondary level. “

“Increasing diversity in the STEM fields can lead to diversity of thought, skillsets, practices and language. It can also lead to broader research questions, expansive research practices and wider possibilities for innovative discoveries and inventions,” Lindala added.

NSF INCLUDES aims to improve access to STEM education and career pathways at the national scale, making them more widely inclusive to underserved populations. Over the next decade, NSF will expand the program, with the goal of developing a science and engineering workforce that better reflects the diversity of U.S. society.