The "STEM Watch" Blog
Twice a month, IHEP Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D., authors a blog to stress the national imperative of building and sustaining a diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education pipeline. Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, Espinosa’s “STEM Watch” blog tackles the importance of promoting an inclusive environment among both students and faculty in STEM while exploring promising practices and policies to help the United States meet President Obama’s national innovation goals in education. Read below all STEM Watch blog posts.
STEM Literacy Beyond STEM Occupations
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Dec.1, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
I write with kudos to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, or GCEW, for its recent publication simply titled STEM. Beyond just another depiction of why we need more STEM graduates to strengthen our workforce (although the authors do a stellar job at breaking down this argument), the authors do something more. The report gets into the tricky territory of defining just why STEM literacy is important both inside and outside STEM fields and sheds light on how those who seek to enter STEM fields—as well as those who are successful in doing so—eventually divert from the STEM pathway...read more
The Important Role of Legal Guidance in Increasing STEM Diversity
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Oct. 11, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Last month, a group of college and university attorneys convened for two full days in Boston to learn about and discuss the legal parameters for seeking diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at their home institutions. They also were joined by STEM faculty, chief diversity officers, directors of diversity offices and policy-focused individuals at national education associations and think tanks.
The associated project, Access and Diversity in STEM, led by the American Association for the Advancement of Science Education Counsel, and counsel from the University of Florida, seeks to provide a space for campuses to look inward and work with their general counsel in the formulation of programs aimed at attracting a diverse student and faculty body in the STEM disciplines...read more
Elevating Inquiry on Women of Color in STEM Fields
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Sept. 26, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
As a group, women are still the largest untapped talent pool for growing America's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. Women of color, in particular, remain greatly underrepresented in STEM disciplines despite a growing population of racial/ethnic minority groups and a growing number of women and minority college-goers.
In an effort to raise awareness of this issue, the Harvard Educational Review (HER) highlights the plight of women of color in STEM in its summer symposium issue, Unraveling the Double Bind: Women of Color in STEM; a wonderful collection of papers (full disclosure: I also served as a contributor) ranging from the history of empirical work on women of color...read more
U.S. Department of Education Recognizes Institutions Serving Critical Mass of Asian American and Pacific Islander Students
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
June 2, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
In May, during Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Heritage Month, the U.S. Department of Education took the much needed step of formally recognizing institutions serving a critical mass of AAPI students. Alongside other institutions serving students of color and low-income populations, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) are now eligible to receive federal resources for institutional capacity building and to ensure postsecondary access and degree attainment for a diverse student population.
In conjunction with the Office of Civil Rights and with support from the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, as well as countless community and advocacy organizations such as the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, the Education Department has sent a much-anticipated signal to the education community; one that celebrates emerging minority-serving institutions (MSIs) for a quickly changing American demographic...read more
The Business Role in STEM Education
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
May 1, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
The month of April saw at least two big announcements from the business community regarding the condition of math and science education in America. First, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released The Case for Being Bold: A New Agenda for Business in Improving STEM Education, calling for the nation’s business sector to challenge the status quo of K-12 math and science education by (among other things) promoting curriculum redesign, carving new pathways to teaching, and leveraging technology...read more
Financial Aid Must Go Further
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
March 25, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
The importance of Pell Grant funding and other forms of need-based financial aid—including aid programs at the state and institutional levels—are well established and fiercely debated by secondary and postsecondary educators, among others, who work with students and families on a daily basis. Hence the flurry of activity, advocacy, and commentary here in Washington and around the country given an unfortunate recent proposal by Congress to cut Pell Grant spending.
Pell is indeed the financial lifeblood for millions of low-income students seeking postsecondary education, and is further relied upon by the thousands of institutions and the academic departments that confer a wide array of degrees and credentials...read more
A Reflection on the Need for Achievement-Minded Approaches to Diversifying STEM
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Feb. 24, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
I was pleased to read fellow-blogger Marybeth Gasman’s most recent piece on the misrepresentation of Blacks in American history texts and classrooms. Like Dr. Gasman, I too have pondered the portrayal of Black students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as the research approach taken by social scientists who study diverse populations in postsecondary STEM education.
In her blog entry, Dr. Gasman points to Dr. James D. Anderson’s book, The Education of Blacks in the South, which depicts Blacks as leaders and shapers of society as opposed to victims of racism and oppression. My own reflection has me thinking about the way culture, diversity and difference is taught to our youth; it is indeed no wonder that many adults isolate underrepresented groups as necessitating a pejorative lens...read more
President Obama’s 2012 Commitment to STEM
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Feb. 17, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
At a time of fiscal constraint and severe cuts to numerous federal programs, President Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget proposal confirms his commitment to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. On numerous occasions–including during last month’s State of the Union address–the president has pointed to the importance of U.S. advancements in STEM for global competitiveness and for the health of our national economy and citizenry...read more
Adrift but Not Entirely Off Course
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Jan. 24, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
The New Year has seen an urgent call for accountability in higher education with the much anticipated release of Academically Adrift: Limited Learning in Higher Education, written by sociologists Richard Arum of New York University and the Social Science Research Council and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia. The book, released Tuesday and drawing a great deal of media attention in the days following, is based on a longitudinal study that draws primarily on results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA)...read more
The Mismatch Hypothesis Helps No One
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Jan. 6, 2011
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
A note to the reader: In this new year, diversifying the STEM fields has perhaps never been more important—for economic health, innovation, and for the health and well-being of America’s diverse communities. As the higher education community is firmly focused on college preparation and completion, we must push to keep equity at the center of all that we do. For my part—and for this blog—I will be pushing the STEM diversity agenda in the most timely way possible. I encourage readers to follow suit by advocating for sound policy and celebrating and replicating those policies and practices that successfully widen the STEM pipeline with new and diverse talent...read more
Learning Assessment: A Paramount 21st Century Higher Education Issue
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Dec. 9, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
In early January, the Lumina Foundation for Education will be releasing its Degree Qualifications Profile—an effort months in the making and preceded by a draft profile earlier this year. As a complement to the foundation’s goal of increasing “the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent...read more
Institutional Adaptation for STEM Completion
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
Nov. 22 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
In recent weeks the University of Southern California’s Center for Urban Education received due press for its report, Tapping HSI-STEM Funds to Improve Latina and Latino Access to STEM Professions. The report looks at how Latina/o science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors are funding their undergraduate education and how Hispanic-Serving Institutions can best use federal funds to support those students. Central to the funding approach are new monies made available through a provision in the March 2010 Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act...read more
Divided We Fail
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
Nov. 3, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Last week, the Campaign for College Opportunity (CCO)—a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that has a mission is to ensure 1 million additional college graduates in California by 2025—released a report by the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy at California State University Sacramento examining four-year transfer rates for Californians who begin at one of the state’s 110 community colleges...read more
An Initial Response to the National Academies Press Report
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
Oct. 14, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
On Sept. 30, the National Academies Press released a much anticipated pre-publication copy of Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. The forthcoming report—with its detailed synthesis and recommended approaches—is the result of a 2006 request by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy and other policymakers...read more
How Higher Education Should Receive STEM Students
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
Sept. 28, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
The current national emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers has prompted the critical examination of pre-college preparation and undergraduate and graduate student retention in these fields. Included in this inquiry is the important assessment of STEM teaching and learning at the elementary, secondary, and baccalaureate...read more
The Need for a National Goal
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
Sept. 3, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Last week I spoke with a columnist from Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education about my research, commentary, and overall interest in the advancement of underserved students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. She offered a series of questions, several of which I’ve been asked before: Why is it...read more
STEM Diversity Without Borders
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
Aug. 20, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
In terms of postsecondary degree completion, the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) landscape largely resembles American higher education on the whole. Despite more low-income students and underrepresented minorities seeking and completing STEM degrees, there remains great inequity between these groups and the country’s majority middle- and upper-income populations. In addition...read more
Community College is Just the Beginning
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
Aug. 5, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
As an active participant in the national dialogue on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education, I often attend meetings alongside college and university STEM faculty, all of whom have a vested interest in diversifying the STEM pipeline at their respective institutions and across the country. Although often enlightened on...read more
Why a Focus on Minority Men Means a Focus on the Whole
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
July 23, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
As some may recall, an early blog post featured data and opinion on the state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate degree completion for women of color (including top degree-granting institutions). Although much of my work has addressed the experience of women and women of color in STEM...read more
Where Is the Dialogue?
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
July 8, 2010
Featured in Diverse:
Issues in Higher Education
Last week, the National Science Foundation’s congressionally mandated advisory group on issues of diversity—the Committee on Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering (CEOSE)—hosted the second of two discussions between committee members and NSF leadership concerning the agency’s proposed Comprehensive Broadening Participation of Undergraduates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math or...read more
The Choice To Advocate
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
June 25, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
A recent Chronicle of Higher Education ‘Advice’ column featured an anonymous faculty member who is also a regular blogger under the moniker Female Science Professor. Her bio says that she is a physical scientist at a “large research university,” which is code for predominantly White university and of a certain...read more
Law and Diversity
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
June 10, 2010
Featured in Diverse:
Issues in Higher Education
Over the last several decades, a rich history of social science inquiry on underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and careers has solidified a base of evidence for use by those who seek to increase diversity in STEM fields. Simply stated, effective policy and practice that...read more
Regional Education Hubs for Innovative Practice
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
May 28, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
The national conversation on American science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) innovation is once again poised for center stage via H.R. 5325, otherwise known as the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. By now, STEM professionals and educators are all too familiar with dire statistics that reveal an America falling...read more
A New Spotlight on Less Selective and Open Access Institutions
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
May 7, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Recent passage of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act was a major milestone in American history, to be sure, for both health care and student loan reform but also for the $2.55 billion authorized for minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and the $2 billion competitive grant program established for the nation’s...read more
The Importance of K-12 Preparation
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
April 22, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
I received a call this week from the NAACP leadership in Chesterville County, Va., regarding the disproportionately low numbers of minority students enrolled in advanced placement, honors, gifted and other forms of advanced high school coursework there. The man I spoke with has a daughter who entered college with STEM...read more
Leading by Example
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
April 7, 2010
Featured in Diverse:
Issues in Higher Education
This past week, I participated in a two-day summit on STEM diversity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In addition to the host campus, the meeting included representatives from 14 other highly selective research institutions, including Harvard, Stanford, Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, and UT Austin. MIT convened these...read more
Competition Has Its Place
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
March 24, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
According to a 2005 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, there are just over 200 STEM education programs funded by 13 federal civilian agencies. The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health support roughly half and cover approximately $2 billion of a $2.8 billion total programmatic investment. While...read more
Who’s Really at the Top?
by Dr. Lorelle L. Espinosa
March 8,
2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, under-represented minority women make up nearly 15 percent of the nation’s populace 15-24 years of age – a substantial proportion of the pre-college and college-going population. Yet, the National Science Foundation reports under-represented minority women earned just 10 percent of all STEM baccalaureate degrees...read more
Breaking New Ground on Faculty Diversity in STEM Fields
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Ph.D.
Feb. 18, 2010
Featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Just over 10 years after releasing a groundbreaking report on the status of their women faculty, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has made public a much-anticipated review of their small community of underrepresented minority faculty in an effort to shed light on the need for greater diversity within the...read more