It’s STEM week in Massachusetts and local leaders are highlighting the importance of encouraging young people to get involved in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields.

The theme this year is "See Yourself in STEM".

While it may be virtual, the STEM Advisory Council is working with seven organizations across the state to offer STEM-focused design challenges for students and educators.

The goal is to support underrepresented youth, especially Black and Brown students, in STEM fields to pursue STEM careers.

WPI’s STEM Education Center is one of the organizations offering programs this week.

"We definitely want younger students to see themselves in STEM, but the flipside is also is STEM welcoming to them and inclusive? We’re trying to have a dialogue about that in terms of who’s giving programs and how it’s set up,” said Kathy Chen, the Executive Director of the STEM Education Center at WPI.

"In the series that we are putting together, we have educators working with industry partners who are working with higher ed. Together, they are putting together programs that are impactful. I might have not been aware of certain platforms that can be used that we can share these things across K-12 classrooms,” said Nicole Anterni, the Director of Sponsorship and Events at WPI.

For more information and a list of events, visit massstemweek.org. ​