To close out their year, this past April, students in Columbia’s Youth in STEM (YIS) Initiative program participated in a four-day in-person residency at Morgan Stanley’s Global Headquarters hosted by The Equity Collective. This in-person component to the year-long online program is a way to bring the YIS students together and provide them firsthand experience and knowledge in STEM-related industries.
Launched by the Columbia University School of Professional Studies in 2016, the Youth in STEM Initiative prepares students from underserved populations to enter college with the skills and confidence to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
This year’s YIS cohort was comprised of 24 rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors from a variety schools across New York City, including Brooklyn Latin School, Bronx Latin School, Harlem Village Academy, and All City Leadership Secondary. Students are nominated to apply for the program by their high school or organizations such as TEAK, Minds Matter, Apex for Youth, and Columbia Double Discovery.
During the academic year, YIS students take online STEM courses from Columbia’s Pre-College Program, including Medicine as a Career Choice: Thinking Like a Doctor; Neuroscience of Psychiatric Disorders; Cell and Molecular Biology of Medicine; Introduction to Programming with Python; Big Data, Machine Learning, and Their Real World Applications; and Introduction To Engineering.
Dhruv Chaudhary, a Bronx High School of Science student who recently completed the Youth in STEM program.
The Youth in STEM Initiative also includes a mentorship program in which students are paired with Columbia HBCU Fellows and receive guidance and advice on college and career options.
For their four-day residency, the students had the opportunity to meet with leaders in STEM, entrepreneurial, and non-profit fields. They heard from professionals including Greg Robinson, Information & Knowledge Strategy lecturer and former director of the James Webb Space Telescope program at NASA; Dr. Ramone Segree, lecturer in Columbia School of Professional Studies’ Nonprofit Management program; and Korhan Beba, executive director of the Beba Innovation and Entrepreneurship Foundation.
They also toured the headquarters of Morgan Stanley and Invesco, an independent investment management company; lunched with their HBCU Fellow mentors; and experienced a drone simulation with Elena Buenrostro, executive director of Women Who Drone.
Below are some photos of the week’s activities:
Students on a tour of the trading floor at Morgan Stanley’s Global Headquarters.
At the start of their week, students spent time at Morgan Stanley’s world headquarters, touring the trading floor, and listening to industry leaders present on such topics as “Entrepreneurship as a Career,” “Impact Investing,” “Women who Drone,” and “Having Effective Conversations in the Real World.”
Youth in STEM student Courtney Beckford at Invesco Broadcasting Studio.
YIS students also visited Invesco, an independent investment management company headquartered in New York City’s Financial District. They toured Invesco’s broadcasting studio and heard from speakers on topics such as and generative AI and financial planning and investment.
Greg Robinson, Information & Knowledge Strategy lecturer and former director of the James Webb Space Telescope program at NASA, presenting his work to the students.
Greg Robinson, Information & Knowledge Strategy lecturer and former director of the James Webb Space Telescope program at NASA, presenting his work to the students.
Students enjoying an icebreaker activity during a break at the residency.
Youth in STEM students with Columbia Pre-College Program instructor Aaron Weinstock
A session titled “Analyzing Our Identity,” led by Columbia Pre-College Program instructor Aaron Weinstock, gave students the chance to explore how reflecting on identity and privilege can help us better understand who we are.
Students working on app ideas during a team building exercise with mentors on the final day of the Youth in STEM residency.
The HBCU Fellows joined their mentees on Thursday and engaged students in a team building exercise. Students worked together in groups to come up with ideas for apps that would help solve real-world issues. They then presented the details of their apps, including logos and the logistics of how exactly they would function. The students celebrated their work at the end of the four days with a reception during which they all received certificates of participation.
