How youth-staff relationships and program activities promote Latinx adolescent outcomes in a university-community afterschool math enrichment activity

Abstract

Youth-staff relationships and program activities are important elements in designing high-quality afterschool activities that promote a broad range of outcomes. Using a qualitative approach, Latinx adolescents were interviewed (n = 28, 50% girls) about their experiences in a university-based afterschool math enrichment activity. Findings under the first goal of the study suggest that Latinx adolescents perceived changes in their math-specific outcomes (e.g., problem-solving skills), future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pathways (e.g., envisioning a future career), and social-emotional skills (e.g., relationship skills) as a result of participating in the activity. Under the second goal of the study, findings identified the specific practices that adolescents thought promoted those outcomes, including incorporating advanced math concepts and engaging in collaborative learning, engaging in campus tours and informal conversations, and using culturally responsive practices. The findings from this study can be leveraged by scholars and educators to design, further strengthen, and evaluate high-quality afterschool activities.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the coordinators, mentors, and youth participants of the Math CEO program at UC Irvine for their willingness to be a part of this study. Thank you also to the University-Community Links Network, Honda Foundation, and others for generously supporting the Math CEO program.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, SS, upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 Names of schools were not identified to ensure confidentiality under IRB guidelines.

Additional information

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship under Grant No. 1809208 awarded to Mark Vincent B. Yu and Sandra D. Simpkins (mentor). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.