Communications of the ACM
Project to Support Minority Students in Science Is Working, Report Says
The number of minority scientists is increasing, concludes a report from the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate program. The National Science Foundation-funded (NSF) program facilitates the recruitment, retention, and advancement of underrepresented minorities in higher-level programs at 66 participating institutions. From 2001 to 2008, the number of doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans, Alaskan Natives, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Pacific Islanders at participating institutions increased 34 percent in scientific and technical fields, and in natural sciences and engineering the increase was about 50 percent.
The report is more optimistic than other studies on the same issue. For example, a report from the Council of Graduate Schools found that from 1993 to 2004 African-American and Hispanic-American students often struggled to complete doctoral programs compared to White and Asian-American students. NSF's James H. Wyche says that in 2005-2006 the 66 institutions participating in the program accounted for 56 percent of all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics doctorates awarded to underrepresented minority students.
From The Chronicle of Higher Education
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