The Wilkinson STEM Education Foundation aligns with federal priorities and civil rights frameworks to deliver inclusive, hands-on STEM learning for diverse learners in underserved communities.
Our work is guided by the core principles established in the 2024 Federal Strategic Plan for Advancing STEM Education.
Ensuring all individuals have equitable access to high-quality STEM education, regardless of geography, socioeconomic status, or background.
Building collaborative networks between educational institutions, industry, government, and community organizations.
Measuring progress, sharing data openly, and holding stakeholders accountable for advancing equity in STEM.
Based on the 2024 Federal Strategic Plan for Advancing STEM Education, our programs align with these five essential pillars.
Inspiring youth, families, and communities to participate in STEM through hands-on experiences and accessible programs.
Transforming education from Pre-K through graduate studies with evidence-based practices and inclusive pedagogy.
Preparing learners for careers in STEM fields through skills development and workforce training.
Advancing educational research and building innovation capacity across all communities.
Creating safe, inclusive environments that remove barriers and support diverse learners.
Every child deserves an opportunity to reach their full potential. Our approach addresses systemic barriers to create truly inclusive STEM education.
Students need family and community engagement and resources that encourage physical and mental health for overall well-being, which allows for stronger academic development.
We expand access to high-quality learning experiences throughout the education continuum and accelerate community-driven approaches to build stable, enriching public education systems.
We support students getting the education and skills development they need to be successful on the job or in an academic environment.
College costs should be affordable. We advocate for decreasing the overall cost of higher education as an economic imperative.
We need strategies and investments that build accountability to advance the success of all children of color—including Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander students.
Children deserve culturally relevant, student-centered learning. We work to expand policies that equip families and communities to better support their kids' needs in school.
Black students are 3.2x more likely to be suspended than White students; Native American students are 2x more likely; Hispanic students are 1.3x more likely—devastating their educational trajectories.
We advocate for restorative justice practices and culturally responsive discipline policies to create truly safe learning environments for all students.
STEM education disparities affect multiple communities across the United States. Here are the facts that drive our mission to create equitable access for all learners.
Schools with high Hispanic enrollment offer fewer STEM courses. 72% come from low-income families.
Source: SHPE-LDC U.S. Latinos in Engineering & Tech Report (2024)
Limited resources, intergenerational trauma, and Indigenous knowledge not recognized in academia.
Source: NSF Women, Minorities & Persons with Disabilities in STEM (2023)
2x more likely to live in low-income areas with underfunded schools. Discrimination in STEM workplaces.
Source: Pew Research Center STEM Diversity Report (2021)
Aggregated data masks disparities. Higher discipline rates than most Asian subgroups.
Source: GAO K-12 Student Arrest Report (2024)
Underrepresented in computer science and engineering at all degree levels. Wider wage gaps in STEM.
Source: NSF STEM Labor Force Report (2023)
Research by Dr. Ian Wilkinson provides the empirical evidence behind our mission and programs.
Dr. Ian Wilkinson — A Systems Assessment Aligned to Early Exposure Interventions
This study investigates a critical but under-quantified constraint on America's technology workforce: the shortage of qualified STEM teachers and early learning opportunities in K-12 education. Using difference-in-differences analysis and causal inference methods across national datasets, Dr. Wilkinson quantifies how gaps in instructional capacity—teacher availability, course offerings, and early exposure programs—propagate through the education pipeline, reducing STEM degree attainment and ultimately constraining the IT labor supply.
The United States faces a persistent shortage of trained technology workers that threatens economic competitiveness. This research demonstrates that the root cause lies not in higher education or industry, but in the K-12 classroom—where teacher shortages and limited access to STEM courses create a systemic bottleneck that constrains the entire talent pipeline.
The Wilkinson STEM Education Foundation's programs—including the Code Academy, Math Academy, and Science Academy—directly target the early bottlenecks identified in this research. Our adaptive, game-based platforms provide the early exposure and inclusive pathways that the data show are most effective at expanding the STEM pipeline and improving workforce diversity.
Difference-in-differences (DiD) analysis, propensity score matching, causal inference modeling, and workforce forecasting simulations using NCES, BLS, and NSF national datasets spanning 2010-2025.
WSEF hosts IRB-approved research studies to advance understanding of STEM education. Participation is always voluntary, always requires separate consent, and never affects access to the platform.
Full details on IRB requirements, participant rights, data de-identification, Data Use Agreements, withdrawal rights, and how to report concerns.
View Research Governance Policy →Explore the types of data available for research, export schemas, and how to request access to specific data fields.
View Data Catalog →Ready to propose a study? Submit your protocol, IRB approval documentation, and DUA draft through our researcher portal.
Apply to Conduct Research →The disparity statistics cited on this page are sourced from publicly available external research (NSF, Pew Research Center, SHPE-LDC, GAO, and AISES) and clearly attributed to those sources. These statistics describe the national landscape — they are external research, not data collected on the WSEF platform. WSEF has not independently verified these figures.
Research findings generated from WSEF platform data will be separately identified as "WSEF Platform Data" and will include the study protocol number, IRB approval information, and a link to the full methodology. WSEF has not received funding for any external research study as of August 2026. Any future funding relationships will be disclosed here.
The Wilkinson STEM Education Foundation is committed to democratizing access to STEM education. We believe that every student—regardless of race, socioeconomic status, disability, or geography—deserves access to high-quality STEM learning experiences that are culturally relevant, hands-on, and engaging.
Our programs are designed to bridge opportunity gaps, support diverse learners, and prepare the next generation of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians from all backgrounds.