Event website: https://theprisonandtheacademy.wordpress.com/fall-2017-stem-education-a…

What is the role of STEM literacy in successful prisoner reentry?

Join us for a public conversation. Access to higher education reduces recidivism rates by almost half and increases the employability of formerly incarcerated people. Many incarcerated students wish to pursue degrees in STEM fields, which lead to diverse career avenues, rewarding jobs, high income potential, and societal status. However, university-level STEM coursework is rarely available to incarcerated students; systemic inequalities in mainstream STEM education are exacerbated in the prison environment; and after release, individuals face significant barriers to gaining employment in STEM fields, such as social stigma and lack of familiarity with modern technologies. Individuals and organizations around the country and at Princeton are taking note of these troubling trends and are attempting to find creative solutions to combat them.

This fall’s “The Prison and the Academy” event will seek to address the following questions:

• How can STEM education contribute to successfully re-entering the workforce?

• What avenues have governmental and non-governmental organizations pursued

in constructing a pathway from the prison classroom to STEM employment? How

might we envision a more effective or comprehensive path?

• What is the responsibility of academics and the academy to ensure access to

higher education in STEM disciplines within prisons?