Commentary: Online Courses Can Be Used to Boost Minority Numbers in STEM fields: It is now widely understood that increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce is an effective approach to address the economic and technological challenges faced by our country. However, recent national reports supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other national organizations provide strong evidence to support the prevalence of underrepresentation of women and minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines and careers.
Research also indicates that declining minority participation rates in STEM fields are attributed to a lack of institutional support, systemic intransigent attitudes, mendacious recruitment efforts, lack of financial support, professional marginalization, hiring inequities, low academic self-concept and inadequate and unsatisfactory K-12 education programs in math and science.
