Comment on gc-2024-5

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Out-of-classroom Education and Outreach (E&O) initiatives can improve the uptake of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) courses at higher education and can help address gender balances within the fields. Arctic Frontiers, a non-profit organisation based in Tromsø, Norway, has been running various projects under the Young Program banner since 2012. Through their four programs, ranging in levels from Kindergarten to Early Career Professionals (and ages from 5 to 35), over 3000 individuals have been exposed to Arctic research and science through workshops, mentoring, career seminars and excursions. With the rate of climate change in the Arctic and the geopolitical changes in the region, E&O initiatives focusing on Arctic science are now even more crucial, but potentially more challenging to run. This study outlines the main educational activities and the best practices from the last decade, to provide a template for science communication and outreach. Additionally, a first analysis of the reach and success of the program is provided, by identifying trends in participant numbers, geographical interest and demographic identifiers. At both the education and career level, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects are typically still characterised by an imbalance in gender and lack of minority groups across the globe (Gibney, 2016) . Greater numbers of skilled and educated people (especially women) in STEM fields will benefit many nations who are struggling to find skilled workers, as well as increasing innovative potential and readdressing gender imbalances (Bøe et al. 2011) . The Arctic nations are no exception. In Norway, where more women are studying at university than men, only 30% of full professor positions are held by women (Lekve and Gunnes, 2022). In Canada, only 4% of Indigenous Peoples pursue an education in STEM (Cole et al. 2022). Therefore, there are still large inequalities in access to STEM education for minority groups, and a lack of support for women continuing their careers in academia (Pew Research Center, 2021). In the Arctic and northern regions of the Arctic nations, there is an additional issue facing STEM fields. Out-migration of skilled workers to southern urban centres and capital cities (all located outside of the Arctic Circle) is a common trend across