Healthcare Executive James C. Burroughs Talks about the Important Role of Black & Brown STEM Mentors

"Let’s Talk STEM" with Dr. Calvin Mackie

On the new episode of Let’s talk STEM with Dr. Calvin Mackie, James Burroughs, a top executive at the Children’s Minnesotahealthcare system, asserts that Black & Brown children must have role models in STEM professions to build the confidence that they can also succeed in those careers. But, too often, they don’t exist. Burroughs, a senior vice president at one of the nation’s largest freestanding pediatric health systems, cites the major STEM professions at their facilities - doctor, nurse, medical assistant, certified surgical assistant, radiologist, technician, laboratory technician. “I see nobody looks like me,” he maintains, adding that the lack of people of color can send the wrong message to young minorities, that these jobs are not for them.

Young people, he says, may think “maybe this is not for me, but I see everybody in the basketball court, they look like me, okay. I need to go play basketball. All my boys are playing football. Let me go play football. And not saying either of those things are wrong. But if that's the only thing I think I can be that determines sometimes my trajectory of what I think I can be.”

Further, Burroughs talks about the positive images that can be portrayed with the right scenarios and narratives. He extols Dr. Mackie, his classmate at Morehouse College, for creating STEM NOLA, the rapidly growing program that excels at giving K-12 children from under-resourced communities hands-on experience in STEM fields.

“The things that you do with your STEM Saturdays, the young people in white coats, that innovation, that creative knowledge create solutions for the things in the future, the problems of the future, is what we need,” Burroughs says.

“One of the things that I love (is) seeing the young kids in white coats. Once you put on that white coat, and I'm sure you've seen it, that confidence goes up. That level of ‘I could do anything goes up’ and that is what I love to see in our young people. So, when they do decide to get into medicine, you know, they've been wearing a white coat since they've been five years old. So, they get their white coat when they graduate medical school, it's where they're supposed to be. It's not a new thing to them. It's where they were supposed to be. And you have put them in a place to say, ‘okay, this is my rightful place. I need to own it.’”

Listen to their engaging conversation.

Let’s Talk STEM with Dr. Calvin Mackie is a podcast series featuring interviews with guests from all aspects of STEM – entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and students – who discuss the importance of STEM in their lives today, and how to start STEM careers. The founder and leader of STEM Global Action seeks to expand STEM education, especially in Black & Brown communities. Since 2013, when he launched his flagship affiliate, STEM NOLA, his programs have directly impacted more than 100,000 students, 20,000 families and 2,150 schools across the U.S., and in five countries abroad.