PurposeThis paper investigated the impact a camp on informal science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) had on students' perceptions of STEM fields and careers.Design/methodology/approachA quasiexperimental design was used to assess students' perceptions toward STEM fields and careers. Secondary students (n = 57) who participated in the STEM summer camp completed STEM projects, went on lab tours and attended panels during the one- or two-week residential camps. Students completed a STEM Semantics survey to assess their perceptions prior to and after attending the camp. Descriptive statistics, Cohen's d effect sizes, paired sample t-tests and Pearson's correlation were conducted to analyze the data.FindingsResults suggested that although there was no significant change in students' dispositions toward each individual STEM field, there was a statistically significant improvement of students' perceptions of STEM careers (p = 0.04; d = 0.25). Furthermore, the results of the Pearson's correlation indicated that there was a statistically significant positive association between perceptions of a STEM career and perceptions in science, mathematics and engineering.Research limitations/implicationsThis suggests that various components of the informal learning environment positively contributed to students' perceptions toward STEM careers. Implications from the study indicate that when students are engaged in hands-on science or STEM PBL activities and have opportunities to be exposed to various STEM careers, their perceptions of STEM pathways will improve.Originality/valueThese results may influence future curriculum and the organization of future STEM camps by encouraging teachers and camp directors to integrate practical hands-on STEM projects and expose students to potential STEM pathways through lab tours and panels of STEM professionals.

This study tests the process-oriented mentorship model (POMM) regarding how mentor–protégé similarities and the moderating role of contact frequency influence mentorship quality, coauthoring experiences, and STEM career persistence intentions among faculty-mentored Hispanic STEM majors in their senior year of college.

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Recent upheaval in racism debates across western countries is exemplified in New Zealand in the decision to compulsorily teach Māori histories in schools. Until recently this history has been largely marginalised and ignored by settlers/Pākehā who maintained a belief in histories which served to legitimise the Pākehā position of power. Earlier analyses have identified how the media has maintained normative Pākehā dominance and power through a consistent dissemination of a limited set of racist discourses. Our thematic and discursive analysis explores how media that embrace Māori histories (9 media items published 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019) work to provide discursive resources for Pākehā in navigating the current debates. A process of hard work followed by transformation into an enlightened future was identified as a pathway for Pākehā to navigate the current upheaval and construct a ‘good’ Pākehā identity. The construction of a racist Pākehā outgroup works as a comparison to emphasise the ‘good’ Pākehā as ideal, and to assign blame for past and present racism. Our analysis demonstrates that despite overtly positive coverage, media accounts can still work to maintain Pākehā centrality and side-line or render invisible structural racism and Pākehā privilege. Keywords: te Tiriti o Waitangi; colonialism; media studies; discourse analysis; New Zealand history