Evaluator’s role and evaluation use in STEM outreach

Abstract

STEM outreach is a key component in nurturing an affinity for subjects such as engineering in compulsory education. Impact evaluation, a way to measure the success of STEM outreach programmes, has been a well debated topic within the outreach landscape. Whilst the standard of evidence in evaluation has been criticised previously, there has been improvements in the past decade on how to do evaluation. The discussion on evaluation is hereby extended to explore the role of evaluators and evaluation use, which would benefit the sector in further raising the profile of evaluation. Various models that describe the STEM outreach landscape are examined, focusing on stakeholders and the lack of acknowledgment of evaluators. An updated model is then proposed which includes evaluators as a key stakeholder in outreach delivery. The role of evaluators beyond ‘conducting evaluation’ is explored in reference to work in the wider evaluation literature, particularly those focus on social settings targeted by non-profit organisations. To aid evaluators in navigating their multiplicity of roles, a shift from how to do evaluation to why are we doing evaluation is required in STEM outreach. Alkin and King’s (2017) framework on determining evaluation use is proposed as a solution for this shift.