Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and Diversity

Diversity in STEM Education

Historic and ongoing efforts to broaden participation in the STEM fields (e.g., agricultural sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences, computer sciences, mathematics and engineering) have [Page 1898]resulted in greater diversity among STEM degree recipients and in the science and engineering workforce in the United States. Data compiled by the National Science Foundation (NSF) indicate that African Americans, Latinos, American Indian/Alaska Natives, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders earned nearly 27% of STEM bachelor's degrees in 2008. This is significantly higher than the approximately 18% of STEM bachelor's degrees earned by members of these populations in 1990. Similarly, racial and ethnic minorities' share of STEM master's degrees increased from 16% in 1990 to 26% in 2008, and their share of STEM doctorates increased from 8% to just above 20% in 2008.

Certainly, these data indicate that racial and ethnic minorities have made significant gains in STEM postsecondary degree completion. Despite this progress, however, African Americans, Latinos, and American Indian/Native Alaskans continue to experience education inequities in STEM fields and remain underrepresented at nearly all degree levels and in a wide range of STEM disciplines.

The composition of STEM degree holders and the STEM workforce reflects neither the diversity of the U.S. college student population nor the country's shifting demographic profile. In 2007, racial and ethnic minorities (African Americans, Latinos, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders) constituted nearly 39% of the U.S. college-age population (18–24 years), but earned just 26% of STEM bachelor's degrees awarded in the same year. This disparity between racial and ethnic minorities' share of the college-age population and their share of STEM postsecondary degrees is largely attributable to the persistent severe under-representation of African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians/Alaska Natives among STEM degree earners.

Referred to collectively as underrepresented minorities (URMs), African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians/Alaska Natives were awarded approximately 25% of STEM associate's degrees, 15% of STEM bachelor's degrees, 12% of STEM master's degrees, and 8% of STEM doctorates in 2008, despite constituting more than 27% of the U.S. population. URMs are increasingly underrepresented at each subsequently higher postsecondary degree level, leading many to describe the attrition of URMs between successive educational milestones as a “leaky pipeline.” In the pipeline analogy, college enrollment, STEM major selection, bachelor's degree attainment, graduate school enrollment, and finally graduate degree attainment represent the points at which “leaks” occur, and URMs are “differentially drained” from the STEM talent pool.

Although African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives are underrepresented in virtually all STEM fields, certain STEM disciplines have been more successful than others in enhancing the participation of racial and ethnic minorities. NSF reports that in 2008, for example, underrepresented minorities earned 19% of bachelor's degrees in computer science, 16% of bachelor's degrees in biological sciences, and 16% of bachelor's degrees in chemistry compared with 13% of bachelor's degrees in engineering, 12% of bachelor's degrees in mathematics, and just below 8% of bachelor's degrees in physics. Similar patterns emerge from data on STEM graduate degree attainment, with African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians/Native Alaskans most severely underrepresented in physics and mathematics.

...