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Several national reports convey the need for better data on the participation of underrepresented groups in engineering. The purpose of this paper is to 1) catalogue data sources that collect STEM-related information at a national level, and 2) critique their usefulness as it relates to informing efforts aimed at broadening participation of underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in engineering. To this end, we identified and reviewed multiple STEM-related data sources published by Child Trends, American Society of Engineering Education, National Center for Education Statistics, and the National Science Foundation. A critical look across these data sources revealed important themes related to reporting practices. While data at the compulsory education level related to preparedness via math and science performance indicators, data focused on higher education and workforce segments related to participation via overall numbers (e.g., degrees award). Data on gender and race intersections were largely missing. The implications of this study highlight the ways that publicly available data sources can be improved through more thorough, systematic collection, publication, and disaggregation of data.
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A Historical and Policy Perspective on Broadening Participation in STEM: Insights from National Reports (1974-2016)
Over the last 40 years, more than 25 national reports have been published focused on broadening participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Although scholarly literature oftentimes serves as one source of information on how to move forward, national reports—produced by organizations, such as the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and committees, such as the Committee on Women in Science and Engineering (CWSE)—are an underutilized source of insights. This paper presents the results of a quasi-umbrella review of 29 national reports published during 1974–2016. The reports in this analysis included 134 unique recommendations, which were synthesized into four themes, broadly labeled: (1) Practices & Policies, (2) Culture & Climate, (3) Information & Knowledge, and (4) Investments & Commitments. These recommendations have implications for a wide range of stakeholders interested in addressing this longstanding problem, and the findings of this study provide a historical and policy perspective that is useful for informing next steps that will ideally lead to the forms of progress that have been long awaited.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1647327
- PAR ID:
- 10080892
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2018 CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity Conference
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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