Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects often fail to engage youth of Color, especially girls, by appearing to be unaligned with their everyday experiences and knowledge (Brotman & Moore, 2008). Makerspaces have been hailed as sites of possibility for engaging youth in STEM practices by encouraging an interest-driven approach to making work (Ryoo & Calabrese Barton, 2018); however, there is limited attention paid to how makerspaces can concretely take up issues surrounding equity in STEM. Understanding that fostering connections between STEM-rich making and youths' funds of knowledge (strategically developed skills, practices, knowledge that support youths' everyday well-being) may contribute to a restructuring of power around whose knowledge and experiences are valued in STEM. In this study I worked with three Black girls to examine how, when, and where their funds of knowledge influenced the STEM-rich making work they produced while participating in an after school, community-based makerspace program. Through the stories my youth co-researchers told and the analysis they supported, it became apparent that part of equitably engaging with STEM-rich making involves recognizing and welcoming their Discourses - ways of being, talking, valuing, interacting (Gee, 2008). These Discourses are embedded in the social and cultural histories of youth and helped explain the development and leveraging of youths' funds of knowledge. Discourses influenced how youth navigated the makerspace and opened space for youth to call upon their funds of knowledge in STEM-rich making.To work with youth in conceptualizing how they understood equitable making, we co-planned a making activity they understood as demonstrating design principles that open space for youth makers to bring their out-of-school expertise to bear on their STEM-rich making work. The design implications that arose from this activity demonstrate the importance youth assign to defining how STEM-rich making matters to them, offer suggestions about pushing against the culture of power that permeates education and STEM, and recommend that educators consider humanizing approaches to developing relationships with youth makers. This work shares youth-developed insights into how makerspace educators can cultivate a culture and activities that value youths' Discourse and funds of knowledge.
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