Meet Yamilée Toussaint, MIT Grad Using Dance To Empower Black Girls In STEM

Who said you could either just be a graceful dancer or a skilful scientist? Why not both? Yamilée Toussaint, a mechanical engineering graduate, is breaking the barriers between STEM and art by introducing young girls of colour to science through dance. Through her non-profit organisation STEM From Dance, she wants to make science more attractive and accessible to Black girls. 

From Racial Biases To Centre Stage

Yamilée Toussaint's passion for science came inherently. Her father is an engineer and her mother is a nurse. She attended the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to pursue mechanical engineering. However, she noticed that the sprawling campus had very few women of colour. She was among just two Black women in her class.

"What struck me the most is I didn’t feel like I was so exceptional that I should be one of two. I felt like it should be different and can be different,” Toussaint told the outlet Because Of Them We Can. The lack of diversity in STEM came as a rude shock to Toussaint. However, she noticed that this was a 'norm' across all careers.

After graduating, Toussaint became a high school algebra teacher in Brooklyn, where she noticed the students' aversion to math. She decided to initiate a program that would encourage more Black children to enjoy STEM. “I just started to wonder about a world where the benefits that you get from dance can lead to the outcomes that we’re looking for in STEM," she said.

That's when she launched STEM From Dance in 2012, a program that combines creative expression with learning. Through workshops and camps, Toussaint uses dance to teach young Black girls, aged 8 to 18, how to incorporate STEM staples like coding, robotics, and engineering principles into the world of dance. This program is free of cost.

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“Through dance, we’re able to create this atmosphere that feels comfortable. And with that space, we’re able to introduce something that feels kind of intimidating,” Toussaint said. They choreograph dance routines that incorporate STEM elements, like LED lights that they code to sync up with the music or songs created through computer science programs.

“I believe that the solution to some of the world’s most pressing problems relies on these girls being in the room because they have a different set of life experiences. They’re creative, they’re intellectual, they’re curious, they’re artistic, and they’re going to bring a different set of ideas to the table, so we must make sure that they are included,” Toussaint said.

STEM For Dance operates in nine cities in the US and has impacted the lives of numerous girls. One student, Myrtha Plaisime, told the outlet, "When I first started the dance part, I really liked it. Then, when we went to STEM, I was sceptical at first, but then we really started to go deeper into it. I realised that STEM can relate to my deepest interests."