”’Impact”’
”’Impact”’
Early studies, from an article published in the European Journal of STEM Education, suggest that BECAP has significantly improved STEM learning engagement for Afro-Indigenous youth in the Colombian Pacific. The program challenges notions that “difficult” STEM pathways are too complicated for certain populations by linking the complexity to real-world need and therefore, increasing otherwise reduced relevance. This approach has increased [[Advocacy|local advocacy]] and interest in information about the pathways from rural classrooms to higher educational institutions and professional labs, effectively reducing psychological and structural barriers to universities.
Early studies, from an article published in the European Journal of STEM Education, suggest that BECAP has significantly improved STEM learning engagement for Afro-Indigenous youth in the Colombian Pacific. The program challenges notions that “difficult” STEM pathways are too complicated for certain populations by linking the complexity to real-world need and therefore, increasing otherwise reduced relevance. This approach has increased [[Advocacy|local advocacy]] and interest in information about the pathways from rural classrooms to higher educational institutions and professional labs, effectively reducing psychological and structural barriers to universities.
On a broader scale, BECAP has participated in national and international conversations about equality in science. The program’s success in encouraging minority girls was highlighted in the journal Science, serving as a case study for how culturally responsive pedagogy can bridge opportunity gaps. By legitmizing [[traditional knowledge]] in conjunction with academic rigor, BECAP has proven an expansive, interdisciplinary means of enhancing education for community development and social mobility through education.
On a broader scale, BECAP has participated in national and international conversations about equality in science. The program’s success in encouraging minority girls was highlighted in the journal Science, serving as a case study for how culturally responsive pedagogy can bridge opportunity gaps. By legitmizing [[traditional knowledge]] in conjunction with academic rigor, BECAP has proven an expansive, interdisciplinary means of enhancing education for community development and social mobility through education.
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Lead
The Biocultural, Equitable, Collaborative, Afro-Indigenous Program (BECAP) is an educational and community program in Colombia promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) accessibility. It focuses on the bio-diverse region of the Pacific in a cross-cultural endeavor that aims to reduce gender and racial disparities in scientific fields by promoting attention to and support for Afro-Colombian and Indigenous people, especially girls. Instead of a standardized model, BECAP utilizes a blended learning approach to the scientific method intertwined with the traditional knowledge of the local communities. This requires a learning model that mixes cultural identity with the introduction of new biochemical engineering. By creating international scientific knowledge between traditional knowledge and scientific data, this program champions equity in access, reduced barriers to education, and promotes social mobility through research and entrepreneurship.
Article body
Background
The Colombian Pacific region is divided into the departments of Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, and Nariño. It is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, yet it still faces economic and educational challenges. Most of the population is Afro-Colombian or Indigenous, and these communities have experienced many years of neglect. As a result, poverty levels are high and public infrastructure is limited for people. Many schools do not have basic STEM resources such as laboratories or stable internet education. This creates a major educational gap that limits educational opportunities for young people in the region.
These long-term barriers have caused very low participation of Afro Indigenous communities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The gap is even larger for females, who face both gender and racial inequalities. Many students do not have mentors who share their cultural background, and they rarely receive practical scientific training. Because of this, scientific careers often seem distant or unrelated to their daily lives, which reduces diversity in the scientific community at the national level.
The BECAP Initiative was established to respond to these inequalities by encouraging scientific education and resources directly to the region. Instead of using a standard system, the program combines Traditional Knowledge, such as local knowledge of plants, ecosystems, and agriculture, with modern scientific fields including biochemical engineering. By recognizing ancestral knowledge as an important part of scientific learning, BECAP makes STEM education more culturally relevant and helps students to build the confidence and skills to address environmental and social issues in their own communities.
Development and Design
The BECAP Initiative was established by a collaborative effort of Colombian teachers, University researchers, and community leaders to form a collaborative approach to STEM learning. BECAP operates under the pretense of biocultural diversity, which indicates that scientific developments should take into account all socioecological developments of a region. Thus, a hallmark of BECAP is the empowerment of Afro-Indigenous girls and women by providing them with a safe space in a field from which they are traditionally underrepresented to explore scientific careers.
To achieve this, BECAP collaborates local students with Colombian scientists and researchers in the diaspora as mentors both in person and virtually. These professionals run workshops and research projects that connect students to the global scientific community. Furthermore, BECAP combines practical learning with cultural practices of the Colombian Pacific, often utilizing inexpensive Lab Boxes to help scientific acquisition and inquiry. This approach allows students to forge meaning between academic concepts and their cultural realities.
Impact
Early studies, from an article published in the European Journal of STEM Education, suggest that BECAP has significantly improved STEM learning engagement for Afro-Indigenous youth in the Colombian Pacific [1]. The program challenges notions that “difficult” STEM pathways are too complicated for certain populations by linking the complexity to real-world need and therefore, increasing otherwise reduced relevance. This approach has increased local advocacy and interest in information about the pathways from rural classrooms to higher educational institutions and professional labs, effectively reducing psychological and structural barriers to universities [1].
On a broader scale, BECAP has participated in national and international conversations about equality in science. The program’s success in encouraging minority girls was highlighted in the journal Science, serving as a case study for how culturally responsive pedagogy can bridge opportunity gaps [2]. By legitmizing traditional knowledge in conjunction with academic rigor, BECAP has proven an expansive, interdisciplinary means of enhancing education for community development and social mobility through education [5].
Significance
The BECAP Initiative is a model of inclusive STEM education with an emphasis on biocultural identity and gender equity. As these two factors of intersection help define historically marginalized Afro-descendant and Indigenous populations who have long been excluded from the formal education system, it demonstrates that such collaborative cultural learning with Westernized science is not only culturally relevant but scientifically relevant, as well [1]. It establishes a framework for smaller programs throughout Latin America to decrease local inequities and engage Colombian diaspora scientists in the country’s developmental processes [3][6].
References
- Orozco Donneys, C., Arbelaez, E., Londoño Isaza, K., Hernández Zúñiga, I., AlegrÃa, I., Castellanos, A. I., Arevalo, C., Victoria, S., Majin, N. C., España, L., Guevara, N. T., Trujillo, A. I., Murillo, N., & Perea, J. D. (2024). Integrating Colombian Pacific Traditional Knowledge and Gender-Inclusive to Enhance STEM Education: The BECAP Initiative.European Journal of STEM Education, 9(1), Article 19.
- Orozco-Donneys, C., & Perea, J. D. (2022). Empowering Afro-Indigenous girls. Science, 375(6582), 730–730.
- Avendano-Uribe, B. E., Lombana-Bermudez, A., Flórez, L. V., Chaparro, E., Hernandez-Morales, A. C., Archbold, J., Buitrago-Casas, J. C., & Porras, A. M. (2022). Engaging Scientific Diasporas in STEAM Education: The Case of Science Clubs Colombia. Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, 7, 898167.
- Frontiers in Education. (2025). “Observations and recommendations regarding ethnoeducation in Colombia.” Frontiers in Education, 10, 1654820.
- Iris Publishers. (2024). “Forging a Space Camp Nexus Between Industry and Academia.” International Journal of Engineering Research, 2024.
- Siemens Stiftung. (2022). “STEM Education for Innovation – initiative in Latin America.” Siemens Stiftung Projects.
