| dc.description.abstract | The MiSTEM Network in Michigan was created to better prepare students for high-demand, high-skilled careers. MiSTEM is working to bridge the skills gap by catalyzing partnerships between businesses and K -12 educators to prepare students for the future workforce. The research questions we used to inform our work include:
Q1: What messages and communication tools are MiSTEM and K-12 Educators using to convey the mutual benefit of partnerships between businesses and STEM educators?
Q2: What factors contribute to the costs and benefits of the partnership between K-12 educators, businesses, and MiSTEM?
Q3: What activities are MiSTEM and K-12 educators engaging in to recruit and retain their business partners?
We used interviews, a focus group, and document analyses to investigate how MiSTEM communicates the mutual benefits of partnerships, the factors that influence the costs and benefits of these collaborations, and the strategies MiSTEM employs to recruit and retain business partners. In summary, we found:
1. There is inconsistency with how MiSTEM communicates the mutual benefits of business and education partnerships across marketing and communication channels
2. Misalignment in shared values, loosely defined structures, and scarce resources negatively impact partnership costs
3. A comprehensive business and technical strategy is essential to recruiting and retaining business partners.
We recommend that MiSTEM create a comprehensive recruitment and retention strategy to support its activities. The strategy should clearly articulate the value of integrating business and education partnerships across communication channels, leverage resources to reduce partnership costs and ensure partners' alignment based on shared values. | |
