We are excited to share a new suite of tools to support your professional learning and development—Professional Pathways in Informal STEM Learning!
Developed by our friends at the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), in collaboration with numerous partners, Pathways is for anyone who works in the informal STEM learning (ISL) field, whether you are jumpstarting your career or you are a 20-year veteran. It is also designed for organizations, academic programs, and professional associations to use.
We think you’ll likely agree that what we do in our field is exciting and rewarding—informal learning opens up so many diverse opportunities for people to explore our world. This means it also opens up just as many diverse opportunities to support that exploration through career paths, from museum education to community engagement.
Yet this flexible and wide range of potential professions means it can sometimes be challenging to identify career goals and the right learning to help you meet those goals. Our friends at the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), alongside COSI’s Center for Research & Evaluation, Oregon State University’s STEM Research Center, and other partners, just released a new tool to help our field meet this challenge.
Professional Pathways in Informal STEM Learning (ISL) is a suite of tools that supports professional learning and career development for anyone who works in ISL, whether they are just starting their careers or leading an institution. Three free tools make up Pathways:
- A Framework that identifies the skills and knowledge (i.e., competencies) identified by ISL professionals as being important to their daily work, whether it’s grant writing, exhibit development, or welcoming visitors.
- A Self-Assessment that helps you reflect on which competencies you use in your work and which you’d like to develop and/or finetune.
- A Learning Plan that guides you in identifying your professional development goals and a path for how to reach them.
Lastly, a hand-picked selection of resources—including professional organizations, articles, online courses, and more—provides further support.
Here at WMA we are particularly excited about how these resources may benefit Emerging Museum Professionals looking for structure and guidance as they navigate the museum career field.
And, of course, if you have any questions or ideas about how you might take advantage of these tools and resources, please don’t hesitate to reach out to WMA staff or to ASTC at programs@astc.org.
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