ACE Pre-Conference Workshop Participation in STEM: Making Universities a Safe Place for Standing Our...

ACE Pre-Conference Workshop

Participation in STEM:

Making Universities a “Safe Place” for

Standing Our Ground

Daryl E. Chubin, Ph.D.American Association for the Advancement of Science

Phoenix, AZ October 6, 2005


General Workforce Concerns

Numbers (will we have enough?)(Post-9/11 environment)

Composition: What diversity brings The business case for diversity

Fairness (rights-based arguments)

Talent development

Demographic change


Why STEM?—Rationale for Investing in S&T

Post-WWII Legislation (notably, NSF creation in 1950 & NDEA of 1958)

Renewed Role in National Security

Economic Development

Equity

Workforce Development

. . . more than research and knowledge production


Minority = Black/African American, Hispanic, and American Indian

Source: Joan Burrelli, NSF, based on 1999 Common Core of Data, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); NCES, 1998 IPEDS Fall Enrollment Survey; UCLA Higher Education Research Institute,1998 American Freshman Survey (estimate); and NCES, 1998 IPEDS Completions Survey


• Competition for talent: S&T v. law, medicine, business

• Slowing the “pipeline”: Pre-college to workforce barriers (law, culture, funding, practice)

• Institutional responsibilities: Preparing, recruiting, and graduating more homegrown talent (esp. women, minorities, & persons w/ disabilities)

• Foreign nationals in U.S. S&T

• Defense needs and constraints: The future is now

• Re-shaping career paths: Degree options (AA, MS, PSM, PhD) and the postdoc appointment

A Systemic View of the S&T Workforce


Dilemma: Fix the Students, Pathways, or College?

Students:

o Demographic composition

o Pre-college academic preparation

Pathways:

o Intervention programs—a parallel universe

o Access to higher education—cost

College Environment:

o Cultural competence

o Structural support


Institutional Responsibilities

Personal Choices

Policy Context

Whose Problem?


Post-Adarand,

-Prop 209, and

-Hopwood . . .

Declining minority first-year enrollment

The challenge of distributed admissions

Loss of special programs


Post-Michigan

Admissions policies and holistic review

Everything else? Financial aid, outreach, targeted recruitment, faculty?

Challenges by anti-affirmative action groups

Failure of Administration to provide guidance except “race-neutral alternatives”


“These programs have created inspiration

and opportunity for young people of color.

They have not destroyed opportunity for

anyone else.”

Dr. Charles M. Vest

Former President, MIT


Approach of Standing Our Ground

Produce a “Guidebook” focused on STEM education

Address issues, with cross-references, to different audiences

Counter the intimidation by anti-affirmative action groups, especially of state universities

Induce conversations “beyond admissions” on campus between faculty/program staff & general counsels

Increase awareness of program options (re pre-college outreach, financial aid, student retention, faculty recruitment) & accountability for actions on them


Contents

Legal Primer

Design Principles

Conference Report:

Data Compendium

Jackson & Vest Speeches

Background Readings

Kane Reprint

Responses to FOIA Requests


Legal Primer

Federal Equal Opportunity Standards

Titles VI, VII, IX, & ADA

Equal Protection & Due Process Clauses

Significant Federal Legal Opinions

Grutter & Gratz, Bakke, & Adarand

State-Based Equal Opportunity Standards

CA, WA, FL, TX, MI

Ongoing Federal Efforts

SEEOA, NSF Criterion II, EEO Standards


Issues

What is permitted & legally defensible on campus

How do the following apply to programs:

Strict scrutiny

Compelling interest

Narrow tailoring

Race-neutral alternatives

Critical mass


Design Principles

Mission

Intent

Target Population

Program Character

Context

Evaluation & Research

Faculty Recruitment & Retention

Leadership


Structural Approaches:Remove Barriers, Affirm Policies & Practices

Institution-wide:

Lessons learned from NSF/AGEP & NSF/ADVANCE

Select Universities (UMBC)

Individuals Institutions

Select Faculty (Tapia at Rice, Warner at LSU)

Packard Scholars


Growing STEM: What to Do with/for Undergrads

Reach out, recruit, & enroll

Link to proven programs and minority-serving organizations (see BEST, AYPF, etc.)

Provide research experiences

Network with faculty in institutions with large minority enrollment

Identify sources of financial support

Focus on the climate of departments, colleges, and institutions

Build cohorts/critical mass


Information on graduate programs

Encouragement, support, and mentoring

Funding

Straight talk (incl. role models) about employment options & combining a career and a life

Not about underrepresented groups, but US citizens

STEMming Losses from the Talent Pool:Graduate Study & Beyond


Graduate Enrollment in Science and Engineering, 1993-2002

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Men

Women

White, non-Hispanic

Non-Citizens

Underrepresented Minorities

Asians

Source: CPST, data derived from National Science Foundation


Monitoring National Patterns

Cross-field differences

Within-field changes over time

Differential progress for various groups

Constrained access and competition for foreign students

Changing demand

Declining interest in STEM

. . . enrollments & degrees relative to composition of the pool


Established August 2004 with 3-year, $400K grant from Sloan Foundation to AAAS

STEM human resource development consulting service

Provide institutions of higher education with nationally-calibrated research & technical assistance in examining programs & outcomes

Foster institutional capacity to:

recruit, enroll, & support students

diversify the faculty

change programs, and moreover, attitudes

AAAS Capacity Centerat a Glance


Importance of National Data-Driven Conversation

Evidence of under-participation College enrollment, retention, and degrees Highest minority BS-producing institutions Graduate enrollment and degrees BS-origin institutions of minority S&E PhDs Postdoctorates STEM Workforce, esp. faculty searches

. . . data depersonalize the conversation


A Menu of Services

Data on impact of “percentage plans” (recruitment/access) & interventions (aimed at retention/degree completion)

How to conduct searches to diversify the faculty & administration

Developing “cultural competence” among current faculty, staff, & students

How to mainstream & institutionalize “special” (soft-money) programs

Nurturing US student talent in the face of globalization


Recent Sources

Diversity & The Ph.D.: A Review of Efforts to Broaden Race & Ethnicity in U.S. Doctoral Education, Woodrow Wilson Foundation, May 2005

Federal Law and Financial Aid: A Framework for Evaluating Diversity-Related Programs, The College Board, 2005—also see National Seminars on Admissions (Selection) and Federal Law, www.collegeboard.com/diversitycollaborative

Igniting Potential: Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Southern Education Foundation, Summer 2005


Wanted

Leadership

Dialogue

Staying Power

Resources

Mainstreaming

Advocacy


Contact

Dr. Daryl E. Chubin

Director, AAAS Capacity Center

[email protected]

202-326-6785

www.aaascapacity.org

www.aaas.org/standingourground

ACE Pre-Conference Workshop Participation in STEM: Making Universities a Safe Place for Standing Our...

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