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January 20, 2006
Sponsored by
The Civil Rights Project and Project SEED
The Project
SEED Initiative of The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University
hosted a symposium on January 20, 2006 at the Harvard Graduate School
of Education to explore issues of racial and ethnic social justice
where they intersect with science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Held in the Gutman Conference Center,
the event was made possible with generous funding from The Office
of the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity
at Harvard University, The Department of Chemistry and Chemical
Biology at Harvard University, The Center for School Reform at TERC,
Inc., and The Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.
The U.S. is currently experiencing a shortage of students entering
scientific fields, particularly those in the physical sciences and
engineering, creating a "quiet crisis" threatening our
nation's ability to maintain its role as the leader in scientific
and technological innovation. Structural inequalities at the K-12
and higher education levels account for high attrition rates in
science and mathematics among talented young Americans.
General demographic shifts indicate that by 2020, students of color
will constitute about 48% of the school-age population, yet access
to STEM degree programs has remained been limited. The National
Science Foundation reports that in 2001, only 9% of doctoral degrees
and 16% of bachelors degrees in science and engineering were awarded
to African Americans, Hispanics, or American Indian/Alaska Natives.
This raises serious implications for the future of STEM fields as
these graduates of science and engineering programs go on to join
a global workforce in which cross-cultural competence is a basic
necessity. With industries facing similar challenges in fostering
workforce diversity, the need to educate young, talented ethnic
minorities has emerged as an explicit goal necessary for national
security and sustained scientific leadership.
Project SEED Newsletter, Vol. 1.
The First Symposium of the Project SEED Initiative
brought together influential and committed faculty and organizational
leaders from around the country to discuss discuss national challenges
and community solutions for increasing the numbers of underrepresented
racial and ethnic minorities in STEM at the higher education and
early career levels.
"Promotion Educational Equity and Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: The Current Landscape and Challenges", Prepared by Maria (Mia) Ong, Ph.D. and Caryn Park.
Maria (Mia) Ong, Founder and Director of Project SEED, "The Project SEED Initiative: Looking Ahead."
The following is a list of invited speakers
and their presentation topics (For Bio and expanded topic description
click on name):
- Cheryl Leggon, Associate
Professor in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Institute
of Technology. “Racial Equity in STEM fields: Women of Color
– Marginal or Missing?”
- Donna Nelson, Associate
Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oklahoma. “Near-Zero
(and Sometimes Zero) Representation of Minorities Among Science
and Engineering Faculty Revealed.”
- Karl Reid, Associate
Dean of Undergraduate Education at MIT and Director of the Office
of Minority Education. “Laying the Foundation for Achievement:
MIT’s Pipeline Programs.”
- Shirley Malcom, Director
of Education and Human Resources of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. “Racial and Ethnic Minorities
in STEM: A Janus-like Perspective.”
- Luz Miranda-Martinez,
Associate Professor of Materials Science at the University of
Maryland. “The National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP):
Serving the Hispanic Community.”
- Anne MacLachlan,
Senior Researcher at the Center for Studies in Higher Education
at the University of California Berkeley. “Then and Now:
The Continued Relevance of Carter Woodson, or Why Graduate Education
Requires Systemic Reform.”
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