Outcomes of a scientific nonformal educational initiative for youth in Rio de Janeiro Isabela Cabral Fe ´lix de Sousa Received: 9 September 2011 / Accepted: 25 June 2012 / Published online: 19 July 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 Abstract The aim of this research is to understand how former students view their pro- fessional and academic paths after taking part in a specific scientific nonformal educational initiative during high school. This program is called Vocational Scientific Program (Provoc) and is carried out in the Oswald Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This institution has for over 100 years played a pioneer role in public health research in the country. This institution has many graduate programs and a high school dedicated to training students in health issues. Provoc was originated in this school and has been part of it for the last 25 years. Since its beginning, this program has been characterized by a significant predominance of women which relates to the female predominance of professionals in this institution working in the traditional areas of Fiocruz, which are Biology, Medicine, Public Health, Humanities and Social Sciences. This study was qualitative in nature and involved observations and 34 individual interviews, which followed a semi structured questionnaire, designed for this research. The results indicate that the majority of participants see their program participation experiences as an asset in their academic and professional careers. Many describe feeling empowered by presenting their work in seminars and a few by writing a research article. Many former students also testified to the establishment of social long lasting relationships in the research work environment. And finally, the interviews reveal a few moments and the factors involved in the selection of a profession by youth. Keywords High school students Á Science education Á Nonformal education O objetivo desta pesquisa e ´ o de entender como egressos percebem suas trajeto ´rias acade ˆmicas e profissionais depois de terem participado de uma educac ¸a ˜o na ˜o formal cientı ´fica durante o Ensino Me ´dio. A experie ˆncia de alunos em Lead Editor: C. El-Hani I. Cabral Fe ´lix de Sousa (&) Nu ´cleo de Tecnologia Educacional para a Sau ´de, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil e-mail: isabelacabralfelix@gmail.com 123 Cult Stud of Sci Educ (2013) 8:193–213 DOI 10.1007/s11422-012-9431-1