WASHINGTON
Interest among American students of all races and ethnicities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has dissipated over the last several years. As a result, the pipeline of American engineers has dwindled. In a new report, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) asserts that the rates of participation among underrepresented minorities in STEM fields have flat-lined, and in some cases declined.
The report titled “Confronting the ‘New’ American Dilemma” reveals that fewer than 12 percent of baccalaureate engineering graduates in the United States are underrepresented minorities, suggesting that only a meager few will matriculate through the various levels of graduate academia to become faculty members or STEM professionals.
Certainly, since the Civil Rights Movement underrepresented minorities have made some progress in gaining access to engineering, however engineering colleges continue to produce graduates who are disproportionately White and male, despite the proportion of ethnic minorities among college-going students.
Innovation, invention and technology fueled the American economy for more than a century. In the ’50s during the Sputnik era, the American government invested heavily in the STEM fields creating the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to compete with the scientific rigor of other countries.
To ensure that the global competitiveness of the United States persists into the future, the nation “must bring young underrepresented minorities in the STEM fields in dramatically increased numbers,” says Dr. Irving Pressley McPhail, executive vice president and chief operating officer for NACME. “There is a solution to America’s endangered competitiveness, and NACME is ready to work with government, education and business individuals to achieve it.”
Among several recommendations, McPhail says that STEM officials, educators and policymakers must pursue an agenda that removes social and financial barriers and builds bridges for underrepresented minorities. In addition, special programs need to be created to support and retain underrepresented minorities as they go through college.
