“…A substantial amount of prior research has documented how participating in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) experiences in informal learning environments 2 has the potential to shape youths' developing identity and self-confidence in STEM (Allen et al, 2019;Young et al, 2019), positively improve youths' perception of STEM careers (Tyler-Wood et al, 2012;Vela et al, 2020), enhance and extend learning of STEM concepts (Duran et al, 2014;Roberts et al, 2018), increase enrollment in advanced STEM courses (Young & Young, 2018), foster problem-solving skills (Allen et al, 2019), and develop and sustain youths' interest in a STEM field (Allen et al, 2019;Soto-Lara et al, 2021). Moreover, such experiences at an early age have been shown to be predictive of post-secondary learners' STEM identity, competence and engagement in science and mathematics (e.g., Dou et al, 2019;Goff et al, 2020;Rodriquez et al, 2019).…”