UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Maya Johnson, a fourth-year student in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), spent Maymester in Washington, D.C., helping high school students think critically about racial justice. The experience was part of the D.C. Social Justice Fellowship through the Penn State College of Education.
The fellowship is a two-semester program that combines theoretical study of law, education, public policy and systemic inequities with hands-on teaching experience in under-resourced schools in Washington, D.C. Now in its fifth year at Penn State, the program equips students to integrate principles of social justice into their chosen career paths.
In the College of IST, Johnson is majoring in security and risk analysis with a concentration in intelligence analysis and modeling. She came to Penn State with the intent to major in computer science but changed course after completing an internship doing computer science-based research.
“I really enjoyed the experience but by the end of the summer realized that I felt a little disconnected from the work,” Johnson said. “At the same time, through my involvement in Penn State’s Multicultural Engineering Program, I discovered that IST might be a better fit for me.”
Johnson’s introductory IST courses went beyond coding and allowed her to explore topics like artificial intelligence, technology policy and how technology can shape future laws and society.
“The security and risk analysis major gave me creative freedom and helped me see the bigger picture of how technology connects to real-world issues,” Johnson said. “As a visual learner, being able to apply what I was learning made the work more engaging and meaningful.”
Johnson applied for the Social Justice Fellowship after learning about it on social media and was accepted into the program. As a fellow, she took the D.C. Social Justice in Education course and learned about social justice topics, lesson planning and how to develop a civic action plan. She and the other fellows were then placed into teaching groups based on focus areas; Johnson’s group focused on racial justice.
“Our teaching group covered topics such as the school-to-prison pipeline, the racial wealth gap, data bias and over-policing, among other issues,” Johnson said. “Our goal was to help students think about how these issues show up in society and connect to their own communities and futures.”
During the day in D.C., Johnson’s group taught at Dunbar High School and MacArthur High School. In the evenings, they took classes at Georgetown Law for their Maymester credit. They were also responsible for developing their capstone projects and connecting with stakeholders who helped them strengthen their ideas.
“It was a full schedule but also one of the most impactful experiences I’ve had at Penn State,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s capstone research focused on racial and economic inequities in STEM education, especially for high school students in historically under-resourced communities.
“This project matters because students should be able to see themselves as creators, problem-solvers, coders and future leaders in STEM,” Johnson said. “By using video games and interactive learning, my goal was to make STEM feel more accessible, exciting and connected to students’ lives.”
Johnson said she found inspiration from one of her own academic experiences at Penn State.
“I took a video game-based astronomy course that makes science interactive and engaging,” she said. “That class showed me how powerful game-based learning can be when it is used to teach complex STEM topics in a way that feels approachable and fun. I wanted to take inspiration from that model while also incorporating my own coding skills and background in technology.”
Johnson's capstone brought together all her academic experiences — computer science, cybersecurity, security and risk analysis, policy and social justice — and showed how intertwined STEM and social justice can be, she said.
“This was about more than teaching students coding or technology skills,” she said. “It was about showing them that they belong in STEM spaces and that technology can be used as a tool to create equity, opportunity and change.”
Johnson said that teaching in the D.C. area reinforced how important her capstone is.
“The demographics and needs of the schools that fellows work with show how necessary programs like this can be,” she said. “Seeing students engage with our lessons, ask questions afterward and talk about their future plans has made me even more passionate about creating opportunities that help students feel seen and supported.”
The Social Justice Fellowship also informed and refined Johson’s career goals, she said.
“I still want to work in cybersecurity, but this fellowship has reinforced how important social justice work is to me,” she said. “It has shown me that I can combine my interests in technology, cybersecurity, education and equity and consider how I might give back through teaching, mentorship or community-based technology education in the future.”
Johnson said the fellowship is another example of the opportunities Penn State provides to gain new perspectives.
“This fellowship has allowed me to do work that is different from my major while still connecting to my larger goals,” she said. “It has reminded me that social justice is not something we should only talk about in certain spaces. It is something that should be practiced every day.”