Improving STEM Museum Accessibility in Pennsylvania for Diverse Communities

Abstract

A baseline of scientific literacy among the general population is crucial for laypersons to be able to understand and evaluate data-driven recommendations for addressing public health and environmental crises. While updated formal education standards can help improve knowledge gaps for upcoming generations, they do not reach beyond K-12 students. Informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) public learning spaces, including museums, can potentially have broader impacts; however, the benefits are limited by accessibility. Notably, there is a lack of policy regarding sociocultural barriers that may exclude underrepresented communities from science museums. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) has demonstrated a willingness to support museum research and resource development throughout Pennsylvania (PA). However, resource availability alone does not guarantee the capability to meet the needs of disadvantaged groups in STEM learning spaces. Thus, there is a need for policy to establish standards to make science museums both more accessible and culturally aware to effectively serve their purposes of public learning and engagement. We recommend that the PHMC requires museums to form diversity and inclusion committees to collect and implement community input about museum content and establishes a requirement for exhibit information to be available in multiple languages to increase visitor diversity and improve public learning outcomes.