UCSB pilot program sends female engineering students to mentor female middle-schoolers to interest them in STEM fields and grow their sense of possibilities.

“The metaphor we always use is ‘lifting the hood,’” said Aldana, a professor of anthropology and of Chicano/a studies, who has a bachelor’s degree in engineering and was a MESA tutor throughout his undergraduate years. “It’s that idea of taking what they know, what’s familiar, and opening it up, lifting the hood, to see what’s underneath. You say we’re going to do something with a cell phone and you have their attention, then it’s a matter of how do you keep it. We have great context, great materials and great activities. And these wonderful mentors.”