Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Yet, while our S&E capability is as strong as ever, the dominance of the United States in these fields has lessened as the rest of the world has invested in and grown their research and education capacities. Rising Above the Gathering Storm documented this global leveling and argued that the United States was at a crossroads: For the United States to maintain the global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals today, we must invest in research, encourage innovation, and grow a strong, talented, and innovative science and technology workforce.1 Gathering Storm resonated strongly in both the executive and legislative branches of government, resulting in the American Competitive Incentive Act, the America COMPETES Act, and substantial appropriations through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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These workforce recommendations focused on improving K-12 STEM education as well as providing incentives for students to pursue S&E education at the undergraduate and graduate levels.2 We fully support these recommendations, but they are insufficient to meet the emerging demographic realities. The United States stands again at the crossroads: A national effort to sustain and strengthen S&E must also include a strategy for ensuring that we draw on the minds and talents of all Americans, including minorities who are underrepresented in S&E and currently embody a vastly underused resource and a lost opportunity for meeting our nation's technology needs.
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Underrepresentation of this magnitude in the S&E workforce stems from the underproduction of minorities in S&E at every level of postsecondary education, with a progressive loss of representation as we proceed up the academic ladder. In 2007, underrepresented minorities comprised 38.8 percent of K-12 public enrollment, 33.2 percent of the U.S college age population, 26.2 percent of undergraduate enrollment, and 17.7 percent of those earning science and engineering bachelor's degrees.
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These students would need to triple, quadruple, or even quintuple their proportions with a first university degree in these fields in order to achieve this 10 percent goal: At present, just 2.7 percent of African Americans, 3.3 percent of Native Americans and Alaska Natives, and 2.2 percent of Hispanics and Latinos who are 24 years old have earned a first university degree in the natural sciences or engineering.5 Recent data from the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA show that underrepresented minorities aspire to major in STEM in college at the same rates as their white and Asian American peers, and have done so since the late 1980s.
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Researchers offer many explanations for the persistent achievement gaps while recognizing that there are many interrelated factors. They agree that family and community differences, school context, low expectations, and lack of exposure to role models, information about career opportunities, and advanced courses affect minority students' success in mathematics and science.
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improve college awareness activities for prospective college students, (2) focus on college admissions policies that support the postsecondary matriculation of qualified underrepresented minority students, (3)
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2. A successful national effort to address underrepresented minority participation and success in STEM will be sustained.
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Institutional Roles The diversity of American higher education institutions is a competitive advantage in the global knowledge economy as different types of institutions address the varied needs of students who find themselves at different places in their educational journey with a range of life and career goals. This institutional diversity could be, but is not yet, effective in addressing the varied needs of the nation's underrepresented minority students in STEM.
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• Programmatic Leadership: A champion at the program level providing leadership dedicated to long-term improvement is typically critical to the success of underrepresented minority programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Program Development The literature on best practices for increasing minority participation in STEM education provides guidance for the development and execution of the policies and programs that are designed to change the academic culture and sustain programs so as to encourage student retention, persistence, and completion.
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• Knowledge Sharing: A corollary to the importance of program evaluation is the dissemination of information about practice derived from these evaluations and other research. Program Characteristics While many strategies for academic support and social integration apply equally to students in STEM fields regardless of their racial or ethnic background, for underrepresented minority students these can be critical for opening doors of opportunity.
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Recommendation 3: K-12 Teacher Preparation and Retention Improve K-12 mathematics and science education for underrepresented minorities overall by improving the preparedness of those who teach them those subjects. Postsecondary Success Recommendation 4: Access and Motivation Improve access to all postsecondary education and technical training and increase underrepresented minority student awareness of and motivation for STEM education and careers through improved information, counseling, and outreach.
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Financial support for underrepresented minorities that allows them to focus on and succeed in STEM will increase completion and better prepare them for the path ahead. This financial assistance should be provided through higher education institutions along with programs that simultaneously provide academic support, social integration, and professional development.
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Secondary school programs that ensure students have access to advanced courses and proper academic advising will support the goal of undergraduate persistence and completion by ensuring that matriculating freshmen are fully prepared for college study. At the other end of the undergraduate years, programs that support the transition from undergraduate to graduate work are likewise important.
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