The American Institutes for Research (AIR) will implement a process to analyze, engage, and inform the higher education communities' direction and approach to workforce development and broadening participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). AIR will gather expert and stakeholder input that informs workforce development and broadening participation efforts. The study will include a thorough analysis of underrepresented group STEM enrollment and graduation over time in institutions of higher education in the United States. As a result of this work, the STEM higher education community will be provided with suggestions for strengthening STEM education at the undergraduate level in colleges and universities throughout the nation.
Intellectual Merit. The national STEM workforce imperative and the diversity challenge in the U.S. require critical examination. This project will advance the knowledge and understanding related to STEM diversity at the undergraduate level. Ultimately, this knowledge can inform the training and preparation of future generations of workers and thus strengthen U.S. competiveness. The integration of national trend analysis of enrollment and completion data, stakeholder input and review of STEM scholarship and NSF reports will provide a triangulated platform upon which to build improved workforce development strategies.
Broader Impact. As the global economy depends increasingly on the kinds of innovations and ideas made possibly by a highly educated workforce, the United States needs to increase the number of American citizens who pursue degrees in STEM disciplines. Shifts in the demographic makeup of the U.S., in turn, make on-going concerns about educational diversity for all sectors of the community increasingly important. The NSF workforce development and broadening participation portfolio of programs is designed to enhance diversity in STEM, but the field needs to know where STEM degree production excels and why. By soliciting recommendations and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, information will be obtained to inform the development and strengthening of programs and strategies, as well as provide direction for the improvement of STEM education at the undergraduate level.
project led by the American Institutes for Research in collaboration with the Institute for Higher Education Policy was implemented in response to a congressional request to NSF to provide recommendations for improving undergraduate STEM education especially for underrepresented minorities. The project analyzed and reported on national bachelor degree completion data from 1989-2009 disaggregated by STEM discipline, ethnicity, race and gender, conducted a literature review of associated research and evaluations, and convened a wide range of stakeholders in 2011 in Washington, DC, from randomly selected higher education institutions to provide recommendations on how to improve and accelerate undergraduate degree completions for these groups. The trend analysis indicated that national STEM bachelor degree completion trends between 1989 and 2009 were not promising for any group including Whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders. While the number and share of bachelor degrees earned in STEM by Blacks, Hispanics and Women has increased over time, they remain underrepresented in the domestic STEM pipeline and this growth has not kept pace with their population growth, undergraduate enrollment, overall degree attainment and projected STEM workforce needs. The percentage of STEM degrees earned by Asians/Pacific Islanders has actually declined over time. When disaggregated by STEM discipline, there are pronounced degree-completion gaps between Whites and racial and ethnic minorities, males and females, and between White men and White women. The trend analysis also examined STEM bachelor degree trends at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). Although non-MSIs produce a greater number of Black and American Indian/Alaska Native STEM graduates, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) produce a larger percentage of STEM degrees among Black students and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) have steadily increased their production of American Indian/Alaskan Native STEM graduates while the percentage of STEM degrees for these students at non-MSIs has remained virtually unchanged. Hispanic Servicing Institutions (HSIs) produce STEM graduates at comparable levels to non-HSIs. The lliterature review of STEM postsecondary programs revealed that the evidence for successful programs suggest that a key set of strategies are employed to promote STEM achievement, retention, degree completion, graduate enrollment and STEM career entry. When comprehensively integrated into the undergraduate experience, a combination of the following strategies promote success: Pre-college, summer-bridge and academic enrichment programs. Academic supports, i.e., intrusive advising, tutoring, mentoring. Student community building, i.e., peer to peer support, learning laboratories. Undergraduate research opportunities. Faculty development, especially in relational pedagogies and student centered teaching and learning. Curriculum reform. Physical infrastructure improvement, i.e., laboratories and technology. Cross-campus collaborations and partnerships. The stakeholder discussions convened in Washington DC provided insight on ways to improve and accelerate broadening participation in STEM bachelor degree completion: Redefine success in STEM - Defining success by graduation rates alone for broadening participation in STEM is too narrow. Community colleges, TCUs and other MSIs have equally valuable roles in developing STEM talent and have lessons to share about promoting success with non-traditional students. Federal funding is too often concentrated in already well resourced four year institutions at the expense of two-year colleges, TCUs, HSIs and HBCUs that need institutional capacity building especially since they enroll critical masses of minority students and women. The pervasive culture of attrition or "weeding out" in STEM disciplines must be transformed to a culture of persistence for all students. Post-secondary STEM education is largely preparing students to be employees rather than much needed entrepreneurs. Post-secondary education must ensure that all graduates are STEM literate. STEM degree production must align itself to real workforce needs and national STEM talent development needs. Students need greater guidance on STEM careers, STEM graduate education and how to enter the STEM workforce. Broadening participation in STEM is a critical national priority and a shared national responsibility. We must ensure the highest quality STEM education workforce which includes teachers, faculty and professors, along with the researchers and administrators to support them. The recommendations shared by stakeholders point to deep changes needed in our approaches to promoting STEM success for all. Their perspectives can help us ignite and sustain a vision for the nation to maintain its global leadership and competitiveness in STEM innovation - a nation than embraces diversity in STEM as an asset rather than an obstacle - a nation that sees that broadening participation in STEM is one of its greatest strengths.
