STEM Teens is a project jointly funded by in the United States by the National Science Foundation [Grant Number: DRL-1831593]; and collaboratively in the United Kingdom by the Wellcome Trust [Grant Number: 206259/Z/17/Z] and the Economic and Social Research Council.

The goal of this research is to examine outcomes of youth educator experiences in informal science learning sites (ISLS) related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) identity, educational aspirations and motivation of the youth educators as well as to identify outcomes that the youth educators have on the visitors to ISLS in terms of knowledge, interest and engagement in STEM, and to evaluate how these relate to participant demographics and across different informal educational environments. The specific aims are: 1) Outcomes for Teens - To measure the longitudinal impact of participation in an extended youth educator experience in an ISLS; 2) Outcomes for Visitors - To compare visitor engagement with and learning from exhibits in ISLS when they interact with a youth educator, relative to outcomes of interacting with an adult educator or no educator; and 3) Outcomes Across Demographics and STEM Sites - To examine differences in visitor engagement based on participant characteristics such as SES, age, gender, and ethnicity and to compare outcomes of youth educator experiences across different types of ISLS as represented by: The Riverbanks Zoo and Garden (US), The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center (US), EdVenture Museum (US), the Florence Nightingale Museum (UK), the ThinkTank (UK), and Centre of the Cell (UK).