15 March 2025, I gave a presentation about the NRAO Ham Radio project that aimed to introduce the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) through Ham radio licensure to underrepresented folk. The HamSci.org conference was held at my old stomping grounds NJIT in Newark, NJ.
You can find the talk abstract here and eventually the video and slides will be released on the same site in the next few weeks. (You can find my talk references and the link to the opensource curriculum here).
I presented some lessons learned during the talk that I think will be helpful to those teaching STEM and STEAM to underrepresented folk:
- LGBTQIA, BIPOC & allies is way too broad a target audience. Future projects should target specific populations (for example, Black folk regardless of sex/gender) because, to put it bluntly, “them that got, gets.” More White LGBTQIA and ally learners were able to participate in this project than other learners in the first two cohorts. It’s also notable that many of learners who were most active in the project had connections with amateur radio through family members (“ham equity”) or radio astronomy through connections with project advisors and NRAO employees–both forms of privilege.
- The course should be delivered to existing cohorts like STEM/STEAM clubs, classes, makerspaces, etc. I’m thinking specifically about our work with the Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia and Pasifika Digital Knowledge Bank. This is a much easier lift than developing a DEI recruiting rubric, building cohorts, developing curricula, and teaching all from scratch. This approach also allows you to target underrepresented folk by partnering with existing groups that already have reaching this population as their mission.
- Speaking of equity, these programs typically favor those who already have experience and access to equipment–usually the children of amateur radio operators. Not surprisingly, there are very few Black folks in this category. In our project, we tried to mitigate this challenge by providing inexpensive radios (QRZ-1s) to the learners and giving them virtual access to radio via projects like WebSDR.org. We understood they are “competing” with people in the ham radio community who’ve had headphones on their heads and were “goo-gooing” into microphones in well equipped “radio shacks” before they could walk. We understand that connecting our learners with club stations, virtual radios (for example, Remotehams.com and Remote Ham Radio), and opportunities to have shared access to radio gear is essential to getting learners on the air. We’re attempting to address this issue in the project no cost extention.
There is a lot of good will in the largely White and aging amateur radio community that can be leveraged. My experience of with HamSci confirms this. These folks understand that Amateur radio will die, and with it, citizen access to the EMS without everyone, especially young, BIPOC citizens working and playing with it.