(Not pictured: Kim Jassem, senior director of strategic operations, Ascension Foundation and Valentina Kuskova, professor of the practice and associate director at the Lucy Family Institute)
As part of continued commitments to create educational pathways to STEM careers through data-driven strategies, a team from the University of Notre Dame’s Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society and the Ascension Foundation convened at the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition held in June 2025. The team presented #GOALS (Go Out and Love Science) – a program designed and implemented by the Ascension Foundation, and supported through a collaborative evaluation of its effects on middle school children’s interest in medical STEM careers by Lucy Family Institute researchers.
Organized by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the ASEE Annual Conference draws thousands of educators, researchers, and industry leaders from around the world to share innovations and best practices to advance the future of engineering education – a strong platform to share the novel, comprehensive approach designed by Lucy Family Institute researchers to assess the impact of the #GOALS program.
At the ASEE Annual Conference, the team discussed how #GOALS examines the impact of early exposure to healthcare and STEM careers on students’ academic paths and long-term career interests.
“We are grateful to the Ascension Foundation for inviting us to partner with them in studying the short- and long-term impact of #GOALS, as well as how early engagement in healthcare and STEM fields can spark a young student’s interest in pursuing a career in healthcare,” explained Sugana Chawla, associate professor of the practice and data science education program director for the Lucy Family Institute. “Our aim is to create clear pathways into STEM for all students, helping them discover how these opportunities can foster lasting enthusiasm for the healthcare field. ”
Chawla serves as principal investigator of the #GOALS evaluation study alongside co-principal investigator Valentina Kuskova, professor of the practice and associate director at the Lucy Family Institute and collaborators Robyn Kress, president of the Ascension Foundation, Stacy Garrett-Ray, MD, senior vice president and chief community impact officer for Ascension and Kim Jassem, associate vice president for operations and grant strategy sfor the Ascension Foundation.
Now in its third year, #GOALS encourages middle schoolers—particularly from underrepresented communities—to explore careers in healthcare. Since its launch, #GOALS has reached nearly 2,000 students in Nashville, New Orleans, and Detroit—cities selected based on local demographics and health statistics.
The evaluative study, which, with the consent of the participants and their parents, tracks participant data across a span of over five years, may provide valuable information for future educational intervention research. As students participate in the program through one-day immersive experiences, they engage in hands-on activities, simulations, and mentorship sessions that demystify healthcare careers and inspire confidence to explore professional pathways in STEM fields. To measure impact, researchers collect data both prior to and following the #GOALS events using mobile apps, surveys, and collaborations with schools.
“We’re blending traditional research methods with fun, interactive experiences that keep students engaged so that we are able to effectively identify what maintains their interests over time,” said Kuskova. “It’s more than a study—it’s a collaboration with communities that can redefine how students experience education and how they see their place in the future workforce.”
The evaluation will produce a public dataset on the program’s impact across all student populations, helping to strengthen #GOALS and inform similar initiatives nationwide.
Kress, who leads the Ascension Foundation, which works to improve health outcomes by strengthening the pipeline of future healthcare professionals, emphasized the study’s broader potential: “We believe this work can offer a replicable model for expanding access and opportunity in STEM education,” she said. “The University of Notre Dame’s partnership ensures the research is rigorous—and, more importantly, impactful.”
“Early indications are already suggesting that the #GOALS program is not only igniting passion for science—it’s shifting life trajectories,” said Chawla. “This study exemplifies the work that drives researchers within the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society. By using data, we are partnering to build possibilities for the next generation of STEM and healthcare professionals.”
To learn more about #GOALS, please visit the Ascension Foundation website.
More information about other Lucy Family Institute educational initiatives is available on the Lucy Family Institute website.
Contact:
Christine Grashorn, Program Director, Engagement and Strategic Storytelling
Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society / University of Notre Dame
cgrashor@nd.edu / 574.631.4856
lucyinstitute.nd.edu / @lucy_institute
About the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society
Guided by Notre Dame’s Mission, the Lucy Family Institute adventurously collaborates on advancing data-driven and artificial intelligence (AI) convergence research, translational solutions, and education to ethically address society’s vexing problems. As an innovative nexus of academia, industry, and the public, the Institute also fosters data science and AI access to strengthen diverse and inclusive capacity building within communities.