After a 10-state tour through educational makerspaces (both in-school and off-site facilities with an educational penchant), researchers from Drexel University’s ExCITe Center found a non-inclusive culture with a lack of attention to implicit biases.

In a 19-page report titled “Making Culture: A national study of educational makerspaces,” the center revealed the results of a year-plus research project led by Drexel professor Brian Smith, in collaboration with postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kareem Edouard, graduate student Katelyn Bright and ExCITe Center Director Youngmoo Kim.

Per the study, student participation rates change dramatically from K-8 (where there’s nearly equal participation by gender) to high school (where male students outnumber females by a factor of three). Program leaders and instructors remain predominantly male, and a language analysis of recruiting and instruction materials revealed evidence of implicit bias.

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