Step Up: An Educational Video Game Addresses Racial and Gender Bias and Harassment in Support of Students’ STEM Career Journey

Resilient Games Studio (RGS) recently received a National Institutes of Health award to continue with the design, development, and evaluation of Step Up for STEM and Health Careers. RGS will work with university partners at The Ohio State University and Ci3 at the University of Chicago. This is part of Phase Two of the digital bystander intervention game for high school students to understand the importance of diversity in STEM. 

Diversifying the national scientific workforce is a significant commitment for the National Institutes of Health. The guiding vision for this educational project is that the scientific workforce will become more diverse when young people have greater self-efficacy for STEM and health careers and the awareness, attitudes, and behaviors to create an inclusive learning environment in STEM and health. Racial and ethnic minorities need opportunities since they’re already underrepresented in many STEM professions and experience higher rates of bias and harassment pointed out in recent research. 

Over the next two years, RGS will develop and test the complete Step Up intervention, including developing video game episodes two through six and accompanying graphic novels for students. University partners will conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of the entire intervention on STEM/health careers and bystander outcomes among adolescents.

Step Up‘s first episode was created by RGS in collaboration with Ci3 researchers and designers. Researchers at the University of Chicago then conducted a pilot study to understand its effectiveness among high school students in 2021. Forty-four high school students in the Chicago area participated in the research and found the game feasible and acceptable.

One participant shared, “A lot of people are being walked over when you see real scenarios like this, and… they’re not comfortable enough to speak up about it. But it really made a difference when someone does speak up about it, and people support you.

In designing the game, it was necessary to include education on Bystander interventions since individuals who may not overtly perpetuate a behavior can contribute to the solution by being more aware and shifting their own attitudes and behaviors. 

Leading the full intervention will involve RGS game designers, storytellers, and programmers to design and refine the game’s functionality to test it in a randomized controlled trial among students nationwide to prepare it for market distribution. Furthermore, Ci3 illustrators will provide lead character development, scenery, and backdrop artwork.

“We believe diversifying STEM and health industries is critical to advancing racial and health equity in the United States,” said Tim Parsons, Chief Executive Officer at Resilient Games Studio. “We hope that students playing Step Up will improve their understanding of diversity in STEM while teaching them about bystander interventions to mitigate bias and harassment.”

The guiding vision for this educational project is that the scientific workforce will become more diverse when young people have greater self-efficacy for STEM and health careers and the awareness, attitudes, and behaviors to create an inclusive learning environment in STEM and health.

Artwork credit: Robin Carnilius.