Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Proposed Federal Legislation Seeks to Boost Minority STEM Education

Proposed Federal Legislation Seeks to Boost Minority STEM Education: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Calling it an issue of national competitiveness, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) announced a new bill on Tuesday that seeks to increase the proportion of minority students who graduate with STEM degrees, as well as the number of minority faculty members who teach them.

“When we look at researchers, engineers, we don’t see America, the diversity,” Johnson said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill news conference and roundtable hosted by the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering Inc., or NACME.

To illustrate the point, Johnson cited statistics that show only 22.1 percent of Latino students, 18.4 percent of African-American students and 18.8 percent of Native American students in STEM fields complete their degree within five years, versus 33 percent and 42 percent for White and Asian students, respectively.