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STEM Gap Widens for Underrepresented Minorities
The Journal--by Dave Nagel--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.