Glossary

• Apprenticeship: Apprenticeships are innovative training programs that allow employers to develop and prepare their future workforce while providing individuals with a learn-while-you-earn approach to career development. Apprenticeships include a paid job, on-the-job learning, classroom learning, mentorship and credentials. (Source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor)

​​

• Backbone: The Backbone Organization in a Collective Impact effort both helps maintain overall strategic coherence and coordinates and manages the day-to-day operations and implementation of work, including stakeholder engagement, communications, data collection and analysis, and other responsibilities  (Source: Collective Impact Forum)

​​

• Belonging: Experiencing appreciation, validation, acceptance, and fair treatment within an environment. (Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education infographic adapted from Cobb & Krownapple, 2019)

​​

• Collective Impact: A network of community members, organizations, and institutions who advance equity by learning together, aligning, and integrating their actions to achieve population and systems level change.. (Source: Collective Impact Forum )
   

• Community: Residents/people with lived experience (Source: Informed by Collective Impact Forum meeting presented in January 2021)
   

• Culturally responsive: the ability of individuals and systems to respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and faiths or religions in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, tribes, and communities, and protects and preserves the dignity of each. (Source: Law Insider Dictionary)
   

• Diversity: any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. In a nutshell, it’s about empowering people by respecting and appreciating what makes them different, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, and national origin.  (Source: Global Diversity Practice )
   

• Equitable policies and practices: Policies and practices of an employer that are designed to foster a “more diverse, productive workforce; a more equitable and accessible work environment; an inclusive environment where employees are valued; a work environment free from discrimination; and a level playing field for employee success” (Source: UC Berkeley).
   

• Equity: The absence of avoidable or remediable differences among groups of people, whether those groups are defined socially, economically, demographically or geographically. (Source: World Health Organization)
   

• Expanded Learning Intermediaries: refers to before and after school, summer, intersession learning programs that focus on developing the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs and interests of students through hands-on, engaging learning experiences. (Source: California Department of Education)

 

• Fellowships: Fellowships are funded, short-term opportunities, that can last from a few weeks to a few years. They can be focused on professional, academic and/or personal development. Fellowships are sponsored by a specific association, organization, institution, or government which sets the eligibility requirements. They are often designed to support various activities, including: research, either independent or as part of a larger project, developing new community-based organizations, training within a specific field, 0pportunities to further explore a particular field of work, and graduate study. (Source: Columbia University) 

​

• High quality: Meeting or exceeding the threshold for quality programming/curricula as defined by an established, vetted framework for STEM programs/education. “High quality” indicates a program/curriculum is being implemented with high fidelity and will lead to intended outcomes for participants. (Source: Informed by knowledge of the Collective and GSK/PEF’s vision for the work; interviews with local STEM stakeholders; and discussions with a working group of Collective members during the development of the Theory of Change.)
   

• Inclusion: Inclusion is an organizational effort and practices in which different groups or individuals having different backgrounds are culturally and socially accepted and welcomed, and equally treated. These differences could be self-evident, such as national origin, age, race and ethnicity, religion/belief, gender, marital status and socioeconomic status or they could be more inherent, such as educational background, training, sector experience, organizational tenure, even personality, such as introverts and extroverts. (Source: Global Diversity Practice )

​

• Internship: A period of time during which someone works for a company or organization in order to get experience of a particular type of work. (Source: Cambridge Dictionary)

​​

• Latinx: A gender-inclusive term for Latin Americans of diverse identities and orientations - alternative to Latino or Latina. (Source: Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends)
   

• Non-degree STEM program: A curriculum of study for postsecondary students that emphasizes the learning and development of STEM skills and competencies (see STEM definition) within the most common STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) without accumulating credit toward a degree. These courses may be recognizable to employers and count toward career transferable skills. Examples include: UPenn College of Liberal and Professional Studies; Temple College of Engineering; and DragonsTeach STEM certification at Drexel University. (Source: Informed by knowledge of the Collective and GSK/PEF’s vision for the work; interviews with local STEM stakeholders; and discussions with a working group of Collective members during the development of the Theory of Change.)
   

• Out-of-School Time (OST): A supervised program that young people regularly attend when school is not in session. This can include before- and after- school programs on a school campus or facilities such as academic programs (e.g., reading or math focused programs), specialty programs (e.g., sports teams, STEM, arts enrichment), and multipurpose programs that provide an array of activities (e.g., 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCAs). (Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
   

• Partnerships: Organizations or institutions from different sectors of the STEM ecosystem (OST programs, K-12 education, post-secondary education, and STEM employers) who have working relationships with each other. Criteria for a “partnership” may include: documentation of a working relationship between partners (e.g., MOU, public statement); regularly planning and hosting programs, meetings, or educational opportunities. Partnerships could develop between organizations/institutions in two sectors, or across multiple sectors toward creating a STEM “pathway.”
   

• Philadelphia K-12 schools: Schools of any type – public, charter, private, Catholic – that operate within Philadelphia county. The EdNA database is a resource for identifying schools. (Source: Informed by knowledge of the Collective and GSK/PEF’s vision for the work; interviews with local STEM stakeholders; and discussions with a working group of Collective members during the development of the Theory of Change.)
   

• Philadelphia STEM Education Directory: A searchable map of opportunities in STEM in the Greater Philadelphia area compiled by the Philadelphia STEM Ecosystem. The directory can help K-12 students and their families find out-of-school time STEM programs, as well as teachers and educators locate STEM professional development opportunities. The directory can be found here: https://philastemdirectory.org. 
   

• Post-secondary education: A period of education that typically takes place after secondary education (grades K-12) is completed. The following types of education would qualify as “post-secondary”: university, college, vocational school, and trade school. Post-secondary education culminates with a degree, credential, or certificate, including: Doctorate, Master’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, Associate’s degree, and other industry recognized certificates and credentials. (Source: Informed by knowledge of the Collective and GSK/PEF’s vision for the work; interviews with local STEM stakeholders; and discussions with a working group of Collective members during the development of the Theory of Change.)
   

• Pre-requisite classes: A course that must be successfully completed prior to entering a STEM field of study or program, or before taking another course in that sequence. Sample pre-requisite classes are: Calculus, Statistics, Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Physics (Source: The College Board). 
   

• Remediation and preparation: These include any opportunities (i.e., programs and strategies) offered by a post-secondary institution to improve the outcomes of students to enter and excel in STEM programs of study, such as: co-requisite remediation (non-credit courses offered alongside college-level courses to provide academic support) and tutoring (academic support offered individually or in a group setting outside of the traditional classroom curriculum).
   

• Scientific literacy: The knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. It also includes specific types of abilities. (Source: National Science Education Standards)
   

• Senior employees: Employees who are involved in the day-to-day tasks and decision-making to effectively manage an organization. STEM employers may define their senior employees using different criteria.  (Source: Informed by knowledge of the Collective and GSK/PEF’s vision for the work; interviews with local STEM stakeholders; and discussions with a working group of Collective members during the development of the Theory of Change.)
   

• Steering Committee:  A group of cross-sector community partners representative of the relevant ecosystem that provides strategic direction for the Collective Impact initiative and champions its work. (Source: Collective Impact Forum Steering Committee Toolkit)
   

• STEM: Acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
   

• STEM Ecosystem: a local, regional, or statewide network, consortium, or multi-sector partnership, which may be led or co-led by a nonprofit organizational entity, that is operating in the United States with the goal of supporting participation in STEM study activities, and career pathways. (Source: The CHIPS and Science Act: H. R. 4346 - page 367)
   

• STEM Education: An integrated, interdisciplinary, and student-centered approach to learning that encourages curiosity, creativity, artistic expression, collaboration, communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and design thinking. These skills may be developed in school subjects including Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math; however, these skills cut across many subject areas (Source: PA Department of Education).
   

• STEM careers: A field of employment in which workers use their knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering, and/or Math to understand how the world works and to solve complex problems. Types of STEM occupations include: research, development, design, or practitioner; technologist and technician; postsecondary teaching {In the Philadelphia STEM Equity Collective we also consider Elementary and Secondary teaching}; managerial; and sales occupations.  (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics).
   

• STEM employers: Employers who hire workers to use their knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering, and/or Math to understand how the world works and to solve complex problems. The Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies “Core Domains” of STEM occupations as: life science; physical science; engineering; math; information technology; and social science occupations. {In the Philadelphia STEM Equity Collective we also consider Elementary and Secondary teaching}. A second domain of occupations that are reliant on STEM knowledge are: architecture and health occupations. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics).

​​

• STEM literacy: See "Scientific literacy" definition.
   

• STEM majors/fields of study: A curriculum of study for postsecondary students that emphasizes learning and development of STEM skills and competencies (see STEM definition above) within the most common STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) that can result in an Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and/or doctoral degree upon completion of the program. Sample STEM majors (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce): 
   

  • Computer majors (computer and information systems; computer programming and data processing; computer science; information sciences; computer administration management and security; computer networking and telecommunications)
     

  • Math majors (mathematics; applied mathematics; statistic and decision science; mathematics and computer science)
     

  • Engineering majors (general engineering; aerospace; biological; architectural; biomedical; chemical; civil; computer; electrical; environmental; geological and geophysical; industrial and manufacturing; materials engineering and materials science; mechanical; metallurgical; mining and mineral; naval architecture and marine; nuclear; petroleum; misc.; engineering technologies; engineering and industrial management; electrical engineering technology; industrial production technologies; mechanical engineering related technologies; military technologies)
     

  • Physical and Life Science majors (animal sciences; food sciences; plants sciences and agronomy; soil sciences; environmental science; biology; biochemical sciences; botany; molecular biology; ecology; genetics; microbiology; pharmacology; physiology; zoology; misc.; nutrition sciences; neuroscience; cognitive science and biopsychology; physical sciences; astronomy and astrophysics; atmospheric sciences and meteorology; chemistry; geology and earth science; geosciences; oceanography; physics; and nuclear, industrial radiology, biological technologies.   

    ​​

• STEM resources: Materials that can provide STEM enrichment and exposure in a home environment, such as access to technology and in-home STEM kits along with the ability to use them.  (Source: Informed by knowledge of the Collective and GSK/PEF’s vision for the work; interviews with local STEM stakeholders; and discussions with a working group of Collective members during the development of the Theory of Change.)
   

• STEM teachers: Teachers who provide lessons on STEM topics/subjects. This could mean a teacher who teaches STEM as their primary subject (such as middle school or high school teachers), or any teacher who teaches an array of subjects, including STEM (such as elementary school teachers). (Source: Informed by knowledge of the Collective and GSK/PEF’s vision for the work; interviews with local STEM stakeholders; and discussions with a working group of Collective members during the development of the Theory of Change.)
   

• Transferable skills/experiences: Transferable skills are talents and abilities that can be used in many different jobs and career paths. They can be acquired through employment, school, internships, hobbies, and volunteer experiences.(Source: The Balance.)

​​

• Well-compensated: Compensation (salary and benefits) that is at or above the average for the area that meets minimum standards to lead a quality life. (Source: Informed by knowledge of the Collective and GSK/PEF’s vision for the work; interviews with local STEM stakeholders; and discussions with a working group of Collective members during the development of the Theory of Change.)
   

• Workgroup: The heartbeat of collective impact: where action occurs and goals are brought to life. These groups are where practitioners come together to contribute their time, expertise, passions, and lived experiences to help develop and implement strategies. (Source: How to Lead Collective Impact Working Groups: A Comprehensive Toolkit)
   

• Wraparound services: Individually designed set of services and supports provided to a child and their family that includes treatment services, personal support services or any other supports necessary to achieve the desired outcome. Wraparound services are developed through a team approach. (Source: Law Insider)