SBE-UKRI: Collaborative Research: Centering Women of Color in STEM: Data-Driven Opportunities for Inclusion

St Mary'S College Of Maryland, Saint Marys City MD

Investigators

Abstract

The economic prosperity of the United States relies on progress in science, the advancement of national health initiatives, and overall national prosperity in an increasingly technical economy. These advancements rely on a talented workforce with the ability to nimbly address new challenges and develop innovative technologies. Colleges and universities can best prepare this future workforce by ensuring that educational environments are effective for a diverse range of students. Women received only 20% of bachelor's degrees in physics and computer science between 2004-2014; Black women and Latinas earned only 2% of the physics degrees and 6% of computer science degrees. Math has similar rates: although 44% of bachelor's degrees were earned by women, only 6% were awarded to Black women and Latinas. The numbers are similar in the United Kingdom. This project is jointly funded with the UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) under the SBE-UKRI Lead Agency collaborative research opportunity. This project will support institutions concerned with addressing this underrepresentation by creating a portal through which US and UK STEM departments can measure their success at graduating women (especially women of color) to that of comparable institutions and to their own prior performance. The portal will make use of sophisticated visualization tools and will be accessible and user-friendly. Users of this portal will include: STEM professors who want to contribute to progress in science by recruiting and supporting the most talented young scientific professionals of all backgrounds, and are in need of baseline information about their own institution as well as a way to measure their improvement over time; researchers in need of information to better understand the dynamics of underrepresentation and identify powerful practices for broadening participation; and students seeking out more effective places to study. The project will allow for identification of exemplary predominantly white, coeducational institutions, and to create opportunities for peer institutions to document their own progress towards inclusion. Since most women of color attend predominantly white institutions, this work has the potential to improve the postsecondary educational environment where the majority of these women work and learn. Improving the diversity of the scientific workforce has immediate benefits from science and also the prosperity of the nation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.