Humanizing S.T.E.M.:
A Study of Educator Experience and Reimagining Learning
In the fall of 2025 through the winter of 2026, Nth Education Partners recognized an urgent need to reconnect with educators, particularly leaders in S.T.E.M. education, to better understand what is happening on the ground in schools and universities and to search collectively for answers alongside those living the reality of today’s education systems. This study explores the essential theme of Rehumanizing S.T.E.M. Education in an Era of Political Pressure and Institutional Erasure of D.E.I..
Our findings challenge a common narrative: S.T.E.M. education is not failing because students lack ability or motivation. It is faltering because our education systems have forgotten how to belong to the communities they serve. Educators are doing the invisible work of translating rigid systems, often created by people who have never stepped into a classroom, into meaningful learning experiences for students. When we bring human-centered systems into S.T.E.M. classrooms, we create space for identity, curiosity, culture, and connection inside structures that too often prioritize control, testing, and compliance.
Across participant voices, student disengagement and institutional barriers emerge as deeply connected. For examples, learners are not disconnected from mathematics; they are disconnected from systems that make math feel fearful, alienating, or irrelevant to their lives. At the same time, educators face structural limits that restrict their ability to teach in relational, inquiry-driven, and culturally responsive ways. These constraints are not merely pedagogical. They are systemic. Together, the data suggests that the greatest obstacle to meaningful S.T.E.M. learning is not a lack of knowledge or innovation, but the conditions that prevent schools from practicing humanity at scale. This study argues that the S.T.E.M. field will not transform through new standards, tools, or reforms alone.
Transformation will come through educator-led ecosystems that reconnect mathematics to identity, community, and belonging. Nth Education Partners exists to make that work visible, supported, and sustainable. We build bridges between schools, educators, and communities—helping districts move beyond compliance and toward cultures rooted in dignity, agency, belonging, and meaningful learning.
OUR 6 CORE FINDINGS
Our Participant Profile
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
Roles not specified in the representation include the following:
Education Consultant, Business Intelligence Manager, PhD Candidate, Leadership & Instructional Coach, Community College Director of Education Programs, Curriculum Developer, Education Non-profit, Educational Non-profit Administrator, Retired Teacher
-
![]()
While this representation displays broader race/ethic groups, individuals of the study have also specified identifying with the following:
Japanese American, Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Multiracial, European American
-
![]()
-
![]()
Idealism Meets Institutional Constraint
What began as a vision of creative, meaningful teaching becomes more complex in practice. Educators face heavy workloads, emotional labor, and limited autonomy within systems that prioritize compliance. A lack of representation further constrains change. In this reality, educators realize that teaching is not just about content, but about who students are, how they experience the world, and how learning connects to their lives.
-
Educators described how traditional math structures often produce fear, disconnection, and the belief that some students simply “are not math people.” At the same time, they envision mathematics as a space for inquiry, confidence, and belonging—revealing a tension between the humanizing potential of math and the harm caused by rigid instructional systems. here
-
Participants emphasized that students’ identities, lived realities, and unmet basic needs deeply shape how they engage in school. Yet institutional expectations often ignore these realities, creating learning environments where academic demands can feel disconnected from or even oppressive to the students they are meant to serve.
-
Educators consistently expressed a desire for collaborative, hands-on, and meaningful S.T.E.M. learning, but described working within systems built around procedure, pacing, and compliance. This disconnect limits opportunities for authentic engagement and makes it difficult to enact the kind of human-centered learning they know students need.
Direct quotes from participants aligned to The Wish
Teaching as Human, Constrained, and Political Work
Educators enter the profession to inspire, create, and make a meaningful impact, but quickly find themselves navigating systems that constrain their autonomy, intensify emotional labor, and limit their ability to teach in ways that fully honor students’ humanity.
-
Students openly depict schools and learning as a place of oppression due to the lack of ‘humanity’ and connection made between them and the educational system.
-
Both students and educators feel the aftermath of political uncertainty, especially with the implementation of ICE in our neighborhoods.
-
Math is experienced more emotionally charged than other subjects with students internalizing labels of "math people" and "non-math people" alongside feelings of fear, anxiety, and trauma, shaping engagement with the subject.
Direct quotes from participants aligned to The Wish
Teaching as Human, Constrained, and Political Work
Educators enter the profession to inspire, create, and make a meaningful impact, but quickly find themselves navigating systems that constrain their autonomy, intensify emotional labor, and limit their ability to teach in ways that fully honor students’ humanity.
-
Students openly depict schools and learning as a place of oppression due to the lack of ‘humanity’ and connection made between them and the educational system.
-
Both students and educators feel the aftermath of political uncertainty, especially with the implementation of ICE in our neighborhoods.
-
Math is experienced more emotionally charged than other subjects with students internalizing labels of "math people" and "non-math people" alongside feelings of fear, anxiety, and trauma, shaping engagement with the subject.
Direct quotes from participants aligned to The Wish
Teaching as Human, Constrained, and Political Work
Educators enter the profession to inspire, create, and make a meaningful impact, but quickly find themselves navigating systems that constrain their autonomy, intensify emotional labor, and limit their ability to teach in ways that fully honor students’ humanity.
-
Students openly depict schools and learning as a place of oppression due to the lack of ‘humanity’ and connection made between them and the educational system.
-
Both students and educators feel the aftermath of political uncertainty, especially with the implementation of ICE in our neighborhoods.
-
Math is experienced more emotionally charged than other subjects with students internalizing labels of "math people" and "non-math people" alongside feelings of fear, anxiety, and trauma, shaping engagement with the subject.
Direct quotes from participants aligned to The Wish
Teaching as Human, Constrained, and Political Work
Educators enter the profession to inspire, create, and make a meaningful impact, but quickly find themselves navigating systems that constrain their autonomy, intensify emotional labor, and limit their ability to teach in ways that fully honor students’ humanity.
-
Students openly depict schools and learning as a place of oppression due to the lack of ‘humanity’ and connection made between them and the educational system.
-
Both students and educators feel the aftermath of political uncertainty, especially with the implementation of ICE in our neighborhoods.
-
Math is experienced more emotionally charged than other subjects with students internalizing labels of "math people" and "non-math people" alongside feelings of fear, anxiety, and trauma, shaping engagement with the subject.
Direct quotes from participants aligned to The Wish
Teaching as Human, Constrained, and Political Work
Educators enter the profession to inspire, create, and make a meaningful impact, but quickly find themselves navigating systems that constrain their autonomy, intensify emotional labor, and limit their ability to teach in ways that fully honor students’ humanity.
-
Students openly depict schools and learning as a place of oppression due to the lack of ‘humanity’ and connection made between them and the educational system.
-
Both students and educators feel the aftermath of political uncertainty, especially with the implementation of ICE in our neighborhoods.
-
Math is experienced more emotionally charged than other subjects with students internalizing labels of "math people" and "non-math people" alongside feelings of fear, anxiety, and trauma, shaping engagement with the subject.
Direct quotes from participants aligned to The Wish
Our Findings
A small introduction into the findings from the data analysis could go here. (Maybe mentioning the Nth’s efforts to compile data and look for themes.)
A title here!
-
This text could include the refined paragraphs from the analysis.
-
Description text goes here
-
Description text goes here
A title here!
-
Description text goes here
-
Description text goes here
-
Description text goes here
What Participants Had to Say
