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Report: STEM Gap Widens for Underrepresented Minorities
5/2/2008
It probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise to our readers, but research released this month shows an expanding ethnicity gap for Americans pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. A new report from the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) reveals that the number minority students pursuing STEM degrees and careers has flattened out or even declined in recent years.
The study, "Confronting the 'New' American Dilemma, Underrepresented Minorities in Engineering: A Data-Based Look at Diversity," was funded by the Motorola Foundation, authored by the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST), and supported by the National Science Foundation. It calls on policymakers, businesses, and educators in K-12 and higher education to adopt "genuinely high expectations for our young students of color, [remove] systemic barriers to underrepresented minorities' participation in college, [develop] a national STEM workforce development policy, and [form] business partnerships that promote untapped populations."
Among the findings in the report is that the percentage of bachelor's degrees in engineering awarded to black students declined significantly from 1995 to 2005, from 3.3 percent to 2.5 percent. It also found that while three key underrepresented minority (URM) groups--African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans--constitute some 30 percent of the overall undergraduate student population in the United States, they receive only about 12 percent of the degrees awarded in engineering.
"We must look out for America's strength in the global economy, and to do that, we must encourage untapped resources into the STEM pipeline," said United States Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson in a statement issued to coincide with the release of the NACME report. "So many of our minority youth are not prepared to take on jobs in critical science and engineering fields, and this is a problem Congress can--and must--address. I commend NACME for working toward a more diverse and competitive engineering workforce, and I support them in their efforts."
Other findings from the study include:
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