CreaSTEAM. Towards the improvement of diversity gaps through the compilation of projects, best practices and STEAM-Lab spaces

Lack of diversity, especially gender inequality and social background are some global problems in different sectors but especially latent in the context of the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering (and the recently added concept of Arts), and Mathematics (STEAM), from primary school to university level and, therefore, labor market. When we talk about diversity, we are worried about attracting representative people from all sectors of society, different cultures, disabilities, ethnic groups, gender or sexual orientation. Besides, the low diversity in STEAM studies has been identified as one of the main problems that needs to be solved in order to reduce the diversity gap that exists in these sectors. The CreaSTEAM project addresses this, not only from the gender gap perspective, but also with a broad approach covering diversity and social inclusion as a way to create inclusive spaces in which to promote STEAM. The project aims to provide an actualized map of the resources focused on the reduction of the diversity gap using STEAM approaches and to select from these resources better solutions to create a framework to implement STEAM-Labs into secondary schools. The STEAM-Labs, as a main innovation of the project, merge the solutions that we can find in FAB-Labs, MEDIA-Labs, and USER-Labs. Our approach is focused on the creation of good practices in these spaces in order to promote diversity in STEAM, where diversity also covers gender equity, and social inclusion for promotion of STEAM vocations.