Superintendents as social justice advocates for African American female students in STEM

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although the Obama-Biden administration recognized and the Biden-Harris administration continues to emphasize the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including medicine, for the nation’s continuing prosperity, the United States produces significantly fewer STEM graduates than other countries. To make up the difference, the United States relies on foreign STEM workers. For a variety of reasons, it would be better to produce STEM professionals domestically. One approach to narrow or eliminate the gap between the number of STEM workers the United States needs and the number of graduates in STEM fields is to attract and maintain more women of color in STEM careers. Fulfilling this vision requires superintendents who view getting more African-American female students interested in STEM as both an economic and social justice issue.