#316: Becoming Facilitators of Change: Recognition and Agency in STEM Professional Development for Minoritized Outreach Instructors

This study explores how a grassroots STEM Gap-Year Program for outstanding precollege students from the Arab minority in Israel disrupt historically, culturally, and politically grounded inequalities experienced by this minoritized community by fostering participants’ capacity to act as agents of change in their communities. The program engages youth Arab instructors (YAIs) who serve as STEM outreach facilitators in Arab-speaking schools while participating in a year-long professional development program combining STEM-focused and empowerment and activism (E&A) sessions. The analysis of 11 videotaped sessions showed that STEM sessions strengthened epistemic and relational agency through disciplinary and pedagogical practice, whereas empowerment sessions cultivated critical agency through reflection, dialogue, and identity work. Recognition from mentors and peers validated the YAIs’ capacities and reinforced their authority. The findings highlight how community-engaged STEM programs can bridge academic preparation with social transformation.