The Long-term Impact of the BUGS Program for Increasing Girls’ Interest in Science
Abstract: Bringing Up Girls in Science (BUGS) was an afterschool program for 4th and 5th grade girls that provided authentic learning experiences in environmental science in an effort to increase participants’ academic achievement in science. The initial study revealed the short-term improvement on participants’ science content knowledge. Eight years after the initial study, the original BUGS participants and contrasts have now completed high school and entered college allowing researchers to assess the long-term impact of the BUGS program. The researchers located 14 former BUGS participants out of the 32 originals and 12 BUGS contrasts out of the 32 former. In this presentation, the follow-up results of 14 former BUGS participants will be compared to other contrast groups including the former BUGS contrasts, regarding their perceptions of science and future career interests in science.