TAKING MINORITIES INTO THE OUTDOORS: EXPERIENCE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

For eight summers GeoFORCE Texas has engaged high school students on geologic field trips with the goal of increasing the size and diversity of the high-tech workforce. Over 1000 students have been in the program, 83% are minorities. This gives us the opportunity to address a long-standing question in the geosciences: Do minorities dislike being outside, or do they simply lack familiarity with enjoyable outdoor experiences?

We survey the students before their first trip and each summer after each trip. We ask about their prior experiences and preferences in activities, environments, learning, and jobs. GeoFORCE operates in two regions, rural southwest Texas and inner-city Houston. The two groups are quite different in their prior experiences. The rural students are much more likely to have gone camping, hiking, hunting, or swimming in natural water (70-90%) than their inner-city peers (40-60%). When asked why they had not done these things both groups responded that that they had not thought about it, or their family was too busy. In addition 30% the inner-city kids said that they didn’t know anyone who did these things, and nearly 10% said they were unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the outdoors. When asked to either agree or disagree with a series of statements expressing a preference, the most significant factor in effecting change was the number of GeoFORCE trips they had been on. The largest shift was to the statement “I would choose a computer game over a hike” with students disagreeing about 12% more after they had participated in three field trips. In addition students shifted their preferences from cities to parks, from small towns to cities, toward visiting national parks, and toward a job involving more hands-on and outside work. Significantly, the students recognized these changes in themselves. After just one GeoFORCE trip, 26% felt that the experience had substantially changed their preferences, and 60% felt they had changed a little. After four trips opinions had reversed, with 50% agreeing they had changed a lot and 39% a little.

Preliminary conclusions are: children don’t have an innate preference to indoor or outdoor activities, certainly not based on race. Experience is a determining factor in student opinions on the outdoors. Sustained exposure to the outdoors over time is important in creating lasting impressions.