In Pursuit of a Diverse Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Workforce: Recommended Research Priorities to Enhance Participation by Underrepresented Minorities

In our efforts to sustain U.S. productivity and economic strength, underrepresented minorities (URM) (for the purpose of this paper defined as persons of African American, Hispanic American, and Native American racial/ethnic descent), provide an untapped reservoir of talent that could be used to fill technical jobs. Over the past 25 years, educational diversity programs have encouraged and supported URM pursuing STEM degrees. Yet, their representation in STEM still lags far behind that of White, non-Hispanic men. To understand the reasons why this is occurring, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs convened a study group meeting in September 2000 of 70 leading educators and researchers in the STEM fields. We examined over 150 research efforts related to choice of college majors, retention in STEM college majors, academic mentoring at both the pre-college and higher education levels, and pursuit of a STEM doctorate, as well as faculty positions. At the study group meeting, we discussed key research, identified gaps, and developed a research agenda for the future. Particular attention was paid to the transition process from one level of academic achievement to the next. We identified three research priorities for URM in STEM from the high school years to the professoriate: 1. Improve methodology 2. Improve research linkages 3. Explore new research areas Developing a better understanding of the factors that facilitate or limit URM STEM progress requires continued collection of critical data and additional research to better understand factors that facilitate or limit student progression towards doctoral degrees and faculty positions in STEM. Members of our study group meeting hope that these suggestions will provide guidance, and strategies for policymakers, researchers, educators, and public and private foundation staff who want to build and sustain STEM education research on URM. The better the quality of information we have on what facilitates and what limits URM’s progress towards STEM doctorates, the better equipped we will be to create educational policies and programs to address them.

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