Communications of the ACM
Why Don't More Minority Students Seek STEM Careers? Ask Them.
A group of minority students at Brown University identified some ways to improve training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.
Credit: New Albany Schools Newsroom
A group of minority students attended a retreat earlier in 2014 to discuss ways to enhance their science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) training, and they identified eight major themes summarized in the journal CBE-Life Sciences Education.
The students proposed the addition of a social justice component in STEM education, such as examining biomedical research in the context of health disparities. They also advocated training to help them better explain science to nonscientists, connecting STEM with other disciplines, and obtaining early guidance on career paths. Moreover, they sought guidance on achieving work-life balance starting at the undergraduate level for issues such as childcare, and suggested STEM education reconsider evaluation metrics that do not take into account diversity or misunderstand cultural differences.
The students also wanted access to "invested mentors" who display real interest in their careers and more opportunities for ancillary training such as parallel graduate degree programs.
Brown University professor Andrew G. Campbell says examples of successful programs include Brown's open graduate curriculum, which enables students to pursue a master's degree in one field after enrolling in doctoral studies.
The research was funded by grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
From Brown University
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Abstracts Copyright © 2014 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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