SBIR/STTR at the Department of Energy (2016) / Chapter Skim
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6 Participation of Women and Minorities
6 Participation of Women and Minorities
Pages 128-150
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From page 128... ...
First, the SBA definition of minority includes Asian Americans, which has the effect of obscuring what are extremely low levels of participation by African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans, and relatively high levels of participation by Asian Americans. In the committee's related report on the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
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From page 129... ...
In the committee's related report on the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, it recommends that the SBA change its definitions to address congressional intent with regard to minorities. Recommendation B reads -- SBA should change its definitions to address congressional intent with regard to minorities.a 1.
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From page 130... ...
. Participants in the workshop examined broad demographic trends in the science and engineering workforce and statistical measures from the SBIR program for women and minorities, and searched for pragmatic solutions to boost SBIR and STTR awards to women and minorities.
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From page 131... ...
When associate professorships in addition to full professorship are taken into consideration, underrepresented minorities occupied on average eight percent of these senior faculty positions at all 4-year colleges and universities. A comparison of women in the overall workforce and women in the science and engineering (S&E)
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From page 132... ...
• It replaces "minority and disadvantaged persons" with "socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses," which aligns the program not with the minority needs apparently at the forefront of Congressional objectives but instead with SBA definitions of socially and economically disadvantaged and with businesses rather than persons. As a result, all participation other than via ownership is disregarded by agencies -- including DoE.
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From page 133... ...
The committee believes that non-merit based selection would dilute the signal of technical quality and commercial promise that SBIR and STTR awards now telegraph to potential investors, a factor that is key to helping SBIR and STTR companies to grow and bring new innovations to the market. They further noted that such quotas might open the door for future setasides -- for example based on geographic location -- that could balkanize the programs.
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From page 134... ...
But, on a positive note, the national participation rates of women and minorities in college and university STEM curricula have been improving and not all fields have low participation rates. DOE SBIR/STTR APPLICATIONS AND AWARDS DATA As discussed in Chapter 4, DoE provided data about SBIR and STTR Phase I applications The data show that, similar to other agencies there has been a significant decline in the overall number of applications at DoE.
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From page 135... ...
(using the SBA definition which includes Asianowned businesses)
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From page 136... ...
The average Phase I success rate for WOSB was 15.7 percent, and the average Phase I success rate for firms that were neither woman- nor minority-owned was 18.9 percent. MOSB applicants had even lower Phase I success rates, as Figure 6-6 shows.
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From page 137... ...
FIGURE 6-4 MOSB share of DoE SBIR/STTR Phase I awards, FY 2012-2015. SOURCE: DoE SBIR/STTR Program Office.
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From page 138... ...
. MOSB applicants accounted for a lower percentage of Phase II applications, 5.8 percent across the period, as shown in Figure 6-8.
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From page 139... ...
FIGURE 6-7 WOSB share of DoE Phase II applications, FY 2005-2015. SOURCE: DoE SBIR/STTR Program Office.
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From page 140... ...
FIGURE 6-9 WOSB share of DoE SBIR/STTR Phase II awards, FY 20052015. SOURCE: DoE SBIR/STTR Program Office.
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From page 141... ...
Overall, MOSB phase II success rates averaged 36.1 percent, against 48.8 percent for firms that were neither woman- nor minority-owned. MOSB success rates were lower than those of other firms in 8 of the 11 years shown.
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From page 142... ...
FIGURE 6-12 DoE SBIR/STTR Phase II application success rates for MOSBs and for firms that were neither woman- nor minority-owned, FY 2005-2015. SOURCE: DoE SBIR/STTR Program Office.
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From page 143... ...
, and other organizations -- and agency data itself -- have sought to determine only whether the company is majority owned by members of socially and economically disadvantaged groups as defined by SBA. Because being a PI may be a stepping stone toward company ownership, the 2014 Survey gathered data on woman and minority participation in this role.
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From page 144... ...
DOE ACTIVITIES RELATED TO WOMEN AND MINORITIES The DoE SBIR/STTR Program Office is well aware of the need to increase the participation of women and minorities and has taken some initial steps toward this goal. In 2013, it initiated an analysis of the potential pool of woman-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses that may be eligible to participate in the programs, utilizing several North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
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From page 145... ...
It may be possible to draw from the body of work ideas on how specifically to increase participation of women and minorities in the SBIR/STTR programs. A recent journal article, 10 for example, describes research results that show persistent gender bias in the field of geoscience.
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From page 146... ...
. 11 These areas of higher participation may offer opportunities for targeted topics development and related outreach by SBIR/STTR programs, allowing them to ________________ 11 National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering 2015, is a biennial report mandated by the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (Public Law 96-516)
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From page 147... ...
Using a nationally representative survey of students from 121 engineering programs in 31 institutions, the analyses demonstrated differences in gender diversity across engineering disciplines -- with programs in mechanical and electrical engineering being significantly less diverse by gender, and programs in biomedical/bioengineering, chemical, civil, and industrial engineering being more gender diverse. The research indicates that women are more drawn to disciplines that emphasize thinking from a broad, systems perspective that link across topics than disciplines with narrow perspectives.
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From page 148... ...
, 15 whose mission is to enable and empower women entrepreneurs, may provide insights into obstacles facing women business owners and suggestions for more effective outreach, as well as direct assistance to would-be applicants. There are WBO centers located around the country.
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From page 149... ...
• Company Attributes Location, founding date, size, other SUMMARY The National Academies' 2014 Survey of SBIR/STTR awardees enabled for the first time a disaggregation of participants by minority status, in addition to the disaggregation by sex. In addition, it compiled data on PIs, as well as business ownership.
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From page 150... ...
Multiple opportunities are identified for DoE to expand its efforts to increase participation by women and minorities in the SBIR/STTR programs. DoE efforts to expand participation in the SBIR/STTR by women and minorities are seen as a small but important element of a broader national imperative.
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