Abstract
The U.S. became a global leader during the twentieth century, due in part to the creativity and enterprise of its engineers, scientists and inventors. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professions were essential to America's past and are critical to the country's future. Currently, the U.S. has lost its competitive edge, and is no longer the world's technological leader. Our once prominent position has diminished, in part, by disparities in STEM education, primarily due to the comparatively small number of students currently pursuing STEM education and their associated careers. By increasing the number of STEM graduates, especially among under-represented groups, the federal government aspires to harness America's full potential. In 2007, President Bush signed the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (American COMPETRES Act) into law. While, the American COMPETES Act (2007) covered a wide range of activities, it had little direct impact on minority STEM education opportunities. This article explores various policy issues needed to alleviate the barriers that limit the success of minority students, specifically African American women, at all levels of STEM education; and identifies specific higher education strategies that directly determine the academic success of female minority STEM college students.
Highlights
The United States became a global leader during the twentieth century, due in part to the creativity and enterprise of its engineers, scientists and inventors [1]
Current research relays that the majority of African American students struggle for inclusion, attachment, and engagement in STEM programs at predominantly White institution (PWI) [7,8]
While the America COMPETES Act of 2010 is broad in nature and far-reaching in intentions, this policy brief seeks to enhance a specific initiative focused on women and STEM education
Summary
The United States became a global leader during the twentieth century, due in part to the creativity and enterprise of its engineers, scientists and inventors [1]. By increasing the number of STEM graduates, especially among under-represented groups, the federal government aspires to harness America’s full potential, with the intention of again making us a global force in technology and innovation [5,6]. This policy BRIEF explores the college resources that prepare African Americans, African American women, for successful careers in science technology engineering and math. Many of the act’s initiatives do not directly address campus racial climate, one of the major barriers to women of color in STEM degree programs The intention of this brief is to draw attention to and encourage specific funding of those institutional characteristics that create a positive campus
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