Broadening Participation in STEM

Project

Image of teen girl in a computer lab

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree production in the U.S. is not keeping pace with the demand for STEM talent. As a nation, our STEM education and workforce development infrastructure have realized a poor return on investment. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities are underrepresented in the STEM disciplines—the largest untapped STEM talent pools in the United States.

AIR deploys its deep expertise to help ensure access and equity to emerging STEM careers. Through research and practice, we work to ensure that STEM outreach and support systems are efficient, build skills competence, and maximize the potential of all students, especially those who are underserved in these fields, including women of all races and ethnicities, underrepresented minorities, those living in high-poverty communities, and those with disabilities.

Related Work

Image of Hispanic teenager at a microscope
27 Nov 2017
Report

Associations Between Predictive Indicators and Postsecondary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Success Among Hispanic Students in Texas

Nationwide, Hispanic students continue to be underrepresented among students who complete a four-year degree in science, technology, engineering, and math fields and among workers in those fields. This study, which used data on seven cohorts of Texas students, suggests the importance of Hispanic students taking rigorous high school math and science courses.
Female technical student at whiteboard
14 Sep 2016
Report

STEM 2026: A Vision for Innovation in STEM Education

A strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education is becoming increasingly recognized as a key driver of opportunity. In a series of discussion-based workshops, 30 experts and thought leaders were invited to exchange ideas and develop recommendations for the future of STEM education.
11 Oct 2017
Service

Supporting International STEM Education

The global economy is changing rapidly in response to advancements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Nations wanting to keep pace must ensure their educational systems can continually adapt to market demands and develop technically knowledgeable workforces of sufficient size to meet the country’s needs. Our experts integrate research and evaluation to inform evidence-based STEM policies and practices, and empower leaders to effect deep change.
Melissa Rasberry
5 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Make Room for C-S in S-T-E-M

Computational skills are in high demand in many disciplines and careers, yet computer science (CS) education remains elusive, accessible to and accessed by only a select few. In this blog post, Courtney Tanenbaum and Melissa Rasberry call for increased computer science opportunities, especially for underserved populations.
10 May 2016
Journal Article

STEM Training and Early Career Outcomes of Female and Male Graduate Students: Evidence from UMETRICS Data Linked to the 2010 Census

Women are underrepresented in science and engineering, with the underrepresentation increasing in career stage. This article, from the May 2016 issue of American Economic Review, analyzes gender differences at critical junctures in the STEM pathway—graduate training and the early career—using UMETRICS administrative data matched to the 2010 Census and W-2s.
26 Apr 2016
Report

Exploring the Foundations of the Future STEM Workforce: K–12 Indicators of Postsecondary STEM Success

Despite being the nation's largest racial/ethnic minority, Hispanics are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)—both in college and the workplace.

25 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Summer STEM—Engaging Youth, Building Identity, Narrowing Gaps

What is summer STEM? Hands-on programs that teach science, technology, engineering, and math in ways that engage young people and fight the summer learning loss that especially affects the nation’s most vulnerable children and youth. In this blog post, Elizabeth Devaney and Courtney Tanenbaum share what we’re learning about successful summer STEM programs.
Rachel Upton
25 Nov 2015
Video

Long Story Short: Increasing the Number of Minority Students Pursuing Ph.D.s—Which Schools Are Doing the Best Job?

Despite recent increases, the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics continues to lag behind the overall population. In this video interview, Rachel Upton examines the role that historically black colleges and universities play in increasing STEM participation specifically among black students.
18 Feb 2015
Brief

Gender Differences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Interest, Credits Earned, and NAEP Performance in the 12th Grade

As technical and scientific innovation continue to drive the global economy, educators, policymakers, and scientists seek to promote students’ interest and achievement in the STEM fields to maintain the nation’s competitive positions.

24 Sep 2014
Brief

The Role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities as Pathway Providers: Institutional Pathways to the STEM Ph.D. Among Black Students

The participation of diverse groups of individuals in STEM academic and workforce communities is severely lacking, particularly in the context of the nation’s shifting demographic landscape. This brief examines black STEM Ph.D. recipients’ institutional pathways to the doctorate and provides insight into who among black students are earning STEM doctoral degrees, whether black students are earning these degrees at historically black colleges and universities or other types of institutions, and the extent to which they being supported financially in their degree pursuits.
30 Sep 2014
Brief

Exploring Gender Imbalance Among STEM Doctoral Degree Recipients

Gender imbalance in doctoral education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields raises important questions about the extent to which women experience differential access, encouragement, and opportunity for academic advancement. In the STEM field, animal sciences and mathematics had far more men earning doctorates while forestry, information science/studies and three categories of engineering had more women.
30 Sep 2014
Brief

Who Pays for the Doctorate? A Tale of Two PhDs

The extreme levels of debt accrued by students pursuing postsecondary degrees has been identified as one of the nation’s most worrisome educational issues. About 90 percent of STEM Ph.D. recipients funded their graduate education through primarily institutional sources. In contrast, 65 percent of those with a doctorate in the social, behavioral and economic sciences did.
Infographic: Who leaves STEM?
9 Jul 2014
Brief

Leaving STEM: STEM Ph.D. Holders in Non-STEM Careers

During the last few decades, national-, state-, and institutional-level initiatives have been implemented to build and expand the STEM workforce by recruiting and retaining people who have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields in higher education. The underlying idea is that individuals who earn STEM degrees aspire to careers in STEM, but to what degree is this true?
9 Jul 2014
News Release

Women, Blacks Most Likely to Leave STEM Careers, New Research by AIR Finds

One in six who earns a Ph.D. in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) pursues a career outside the field, with women and blacks most likely to do so, finds a new American Institutes for Research (AIR) analysis of what general career paths and work these Ph.D. holders take up once leaving their discipline.
24 Sep 2014
News Release

HBCUs Key to Producing Black STEM Ph.D.'s, But These Grads Have Less Aid, More Debt

New research on the educational pathways of black STEM Ph.D. holders finds that nearly a third of those from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) graduated with high levels of debt. AIR also found that 72 percent of those with a STEM doctorate from an HBCU also earned their undergraduate degree at an historically black institution.
1 Apr 2014
Brief

The Nonacademic Careers of STEM Ph.D. Holders

Most students enter into science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) Ph.D. programs planning to work in academia, but many STEM Ph.D. holders eventually seek nonacademic positions.

Courtney Tanenbaum
11 Mar 2014
Video

Long Story Short: Why Don't More Women Pursue STEM Careers?

The increase in women with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math hasn't led to a similar increase in women in STEM leadership positions. In this 90-second video interview, Courtney Tanenbaum, senior researcher at AIR, explains why.
6 Mar 2014
Report

Early Academic Career Pathways in STEM: Do Gender and Family Status Matter?

Women with STEM Ph.D.’s are likelier to start their careers in academia, but their male peers get more of the faculty appointments at research institutions, according to a new analysis that explores the impact gender and family may have on the careers of these new graduates.

16 Apr 2014
Index

AIR Index: STEM Ph.D. Debt by Race

Hispanic, black, Asian and white Ph.D. graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics face different levels of debt on average. Here are the quick facts.
6 May 2013
Report

The Price of a Science Ph.D.

A recent report from AIR's Center for STEM Education & Innovation found that financing a Ph.D. in the sciences results in high levels of debt, particularly for underrepresented minorities.
12 Feb 2013
Report

Broadening Participation in STEM: A Call to Action

This report, produced by AIR with consultation from the Institute for Higher Education Policy, details the key issues to consider and steps we should take to improve our position in STEM innovation. It includes six critical policy questions, along with an open letter to the nation on broadening perceptions in order to broaden participation.

2 Jan 2013
Report

How Long Does It Take? STEM Ph.D. Completion for Underrepresented Minorities

This issue brief is the first in a series produced by AIR to promote research, policy, and practice related to broadening the participation of traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM doctoral education and the workforce.

19 Mar 2013
Report

Teacher Practice and Student Outcomes in Arts-Integrated Learning Settings: A Review of Literature

AIR conducted a review of key literature in 2011-12 exploring the measurement of teacher practice and student learning in arts-integrated settings through a project funded by the Department of Education and offered by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.
30 Sep 2014
Report

Using Research to Inform Policies and Practices in Science Education: Conversations With Faculty and Administrators

Providing all students with equitable access to high-quality STEM education, including equitable access to opportunity and encouragement to pursue STEM academic and career pathways, is one of the nation’s greatest education priorities and challenges. In September 2013, AIR convened a two-day symposium to engage key stakeholders in a series of discussions on how social science research can inform broadening participation efforts in STEM. This postsymposium report summarizes the research that was presented at the symposium and the ensuing discussions among symposium participants.