Guardians of the Galaxy, Protectors of the Web: Dive into the Future of STEM

A 2021 report by India’s Ministry of Education revealed there was a 4.5% increase in female student enrollment in STEM programmes at higher educational institutes. Another report from 2024 reflected a 12% increase in female students in online STEM courses. 

Though we are prone to rejoice in these developments, we must also ground ourselves in the reality that STEM education in India largely remains a privilege not afforded to many. The rates of enrollment let alone matriculation in STEM programmes from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and especially women, remain low; and more needs to be done to keep the momentum despite encouraging statistics.
Motivated by this, students from the April cohort of TribesForGood decided to do their part in pushing for a more inclusive STEM space by curating their STEM-themed campaign Astrotech.

Let’s first meet the dynamic trio of changemakers who drove the successful run of the Astrotech campaign:

• Adi Agarwal – Grade 10, Pathways School Noida
• Hamzah Barmare – Grade 12, Delhi Private School Dubai
• Vivaan Mohindroo – Grade 12, The Shri Ram School Aravali

Together, they were able to educate their target audience on the basic principles of cyber security and inspire their curiosity in the broader field of astrophysics so that they too can aim for the stars.

Part 1: Self-defense in the Digital World

Hamzah and Vivaan shared the belief that in the hyper digital future to come, being unversed in the tactics of digital self defense would render one vulnerable to be targeted by malicious parties. Thus, in their virtual awareness workshops, the duo initiated the women at the Mumbai-based NGO, Kshamata, into the various threats posed by the cyber world and fundamental practices of cybersecurity. 

Admirable as their undertaking was, they were faced with several challenges. During their workshop, they had to account for the fact that some students were not familiar with using digital technologies. Thus, they had to patiently break down the concepts of cyber security well enough that even those in the audience with limited knowledge and access to computers, mobile phones, etc. were able to follow the subject matter.

Wanting to further expand upon the foundation built during their sessions, Hamzah took it further and worked on creating a module on the open access platform code.org on the topic of digital scams and how to protect against them so that the students from Kshamata (and others) can access it and supplement their learning from the virtual sessions. 

Through their sessions with the women at Kshmata, Hamzah and Vivaan were able to equip with them some fundamental practices that would enable them to protect themselves digitally.

Part 2: Reaching for the Stars

Meanwhile, Adi, along with his team member Seyaan, collaborated with the kids of the NGO Chaitanya Kul and decided to introduce them to certain key concepts within Astrophysics. To his surprise, the students already possessed a cursory knowledge of the broader subject. 

This made for a very interesting session where Adi was subject to an array of questions such as, “Why do planets not zig zag around the Sun?” ”Do galaxies also orbit around an entity?” “Is TON 618 still the biggest blackhole discovered? And who decided to name it that? And WHY?”

Some of these questions left our resident astro-physics enthusiast Adi stumped, which is how he knew that he had succeeded in his mission of inspiring curiosity among his audience in this domain. 

Wishing to further cultivate the interest displayed by the students of Chaitanya Kul, Adi decided to create a digital magazine on astrophysics that would explore the basics of astrophysics but also venture into some more advanced concepts. His priority was not to curate a magazine that would cover all relevant concepts in excruciating detail. Instead, he focused on presenting the magazine in a visually-interesting manner to further spark and retain his target reader’s interest in the subject.

Parting Reflection:

When they set out on their campaign, our changemakers initially believed that the success of their campaign would be determined by the extent and accuracy of the subject matter that they covered with their audience.

During the programme however, they acquired a more nuanced understanding of what success in a learning space actually meant. They learned that it meant paying attention to what your audience knows, what they don’t know, what they need to know, and perhaps, most importantly, what they would like to know more of.

Thus, tapping into the audience’s curiosity became the Northstar that led this campaign through its successful run.

Inspired? Take that first step!

Begin your changemaking journey by signing up for the upcoming cohorts of our Global Challenges & Social Justice Program.

Batch starts: 1 June, 15 Jun, 1 Jul, 15 Jul, 1 Aug & 15 Aug