Understanding Interventions That Encourage Minorities to Pursue Research Careers

Understanding Interventions That Encourage Minorities to Pursue Research Careers
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2007-11-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 030917967X

Minority groups are severely underrepresented in the scientific workforce. To encourage minorities to pursue careers in research, a variety of "intervention programs" have been created at the pre-college, college, and graduate school levels. While there is a belief that these programs often achieve their goals, there is relatively little understanding of the factors that contribute to that success. The Division of Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE) at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health has established a grant program to support research to better understand the factors that contribute to the success of intervention programs. The MORE Division asked the National Academies to organize a workshop focusing on issues addressed by the grant program. This workshop summary presents examples of previous research on intervention programs, describes ways to formulate effective research questions and conduct research to identify the key elements that lead to successful intervention programs, and outlines ways to foster a community of researchers in this area.

Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation

Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2011-07-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309159687

In order for the United States to maintain the global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals, we must invest in research, encourage innovation, and grow a strong and talented science and technology workforce. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation explores the role of diversity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce and its value in keeping America innovative and competitive. According to the book, the U.S. labor market is projected to grow faster in science and engineering than in any other sector in the coming years, making minority participation in STEM education at all levels a national priority. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation analyzes the rate of change and the challenges the nation currently faces in developing a strong and diverse workforce. Although minorities are the fastest growing segment of the population, they are underrepresented in the fields of science and engineering. Historically, there has been a strong connection between increasing educational attainment in the United States and the growth in and global leadership of the economy. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation suggests that the federal government, industry, and post-secondary institutions work collaboratively with K-12 schools and school systems to increase minority access to and demand for post-secondary STEM education and technical training. The book also identifies best practices and offers a comprehensive road map for increasing involvement of underrepresented minorities and improving the quality of their education. It offers recommendations that focus on academic and social support, institutional roles, teacher preparation, affordability and program development.

Changing the Face of Engineering

Changing the Face of Engineering
Author: John Brooks Slaughter
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2015-12-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1421418150

How can academic institutions, corporations, and policymakers foster African American participation and advancement in engineering? For much of America’s history, African Americans were discouraged or aggressively prevented from becoming scientists and engineers. Those who did enter STEM fields found that their inventions and discoveries were often neither recognized nor valued. Even today, particularly in the field of engineering, the participation of African American men and women is shockingly low, and some evidence indicates that the situation might be getting worse. In Changing the Face of Engineering, twenty-four eminent scholars address the underrepresentation of African Americans in engineering from a wide variety of disciplinary and professional perspectives while proposing workable classroom solutions and public policy initiatives. They combine robust statistical analyses with personal narratives of African American engineers and STEM instructors who, by taking evidenced-based approaches, have found success in graduating African American engineers. Changing the Face of Engineering argues that the continued underrepresentation of African Americans in engineering impairs the ability of the United States to compete successfully in the global marketplace. This volume will be of interest to STEM scholars and students, as well as policymakers, corporations, and higher education institutions.

New Scholarship in Critical Quantitative Research, Part 1: Studying Institutions and People in Context

New Scholarship in Critical Quantitative Research, Part 1: Studying Institutions and People in Context
Author: Frances K. Stage
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 126
Release: 2014-06-24
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1118947487

This volume presents work focused on underrepresented persons in a variety of levels of higher education. Each scholar has used critical quantitative approaches to examine access and/or success in the higher education arena. Their scholarship pushes the boundaries of what we know by questioning mainstream notions of higher education through: the examination of policies the re-framing of theories and measures the reexamination of traditional questions for nontraditional populations. The work is divergent, but the commonality of the presentations lies in each scholar’s critical approach to conventional quantitative scholarship. Their research highlights inequities and explores factors not typically included in conventional quantitative analysis. This is the 158th volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Always timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.

Advancing Diversity in the US Industrial Science and Engineering Workforce

Advancing Diversity in the US Industrial Science and Engineering Workforce
Author: National Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2014-07-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0309265088

Thousands of gifted individuals, including women and underrepresented minorities, remain a disproportionally small fraction of those in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. Industry, as the largest employer category of those with STEM backgrounds, stands to benefit considerably from greater inclusion of women and underrepresented minorities in the workforce. However, nothing short of a game-changing environment must be created to harness the talent of those not fully represented in the STEM workforce. Advancing Diversity in the US Industrial Science and Engineering Workforce is the summary of a workshop held in May, 2012 by the National Academy of Engineering, focusing on the needs and challenges facing industry in particular, and it is intended to facilitate further discussion and actions to address these complex issues. The workshop provided a forum for leaders from industry, academia, and professional associations to share best practices and innovative approaches to recruiting, retaining, and advancing women and underrepresented minorities in the scientific and engineering workforce throughout the nation's industries.

Resilience in Children, Adolescents, and Adults

Resilience in Children, Adolescents, and Adults
Author: Sandra Prince-Embury
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2012-11-06
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1461449391

Resilience in Children, Adolescents, and Adults: Translating Research into Practice recognizes the growing need to strengthen the links between theory, assessment, interventions, and outcomes to give resilience a stronger empirical base, resulting in more effective interventions and strength-enhancing practice. This comprehensive volume clarifies core constructs of resilience and links these definitions to effective assessment. Leading researchers and clinicians examine effective scales, questionnaires, and other evaluative tools as well as instructive studies on cultural considerations in resilience, resilience in the context of disaster, and age-appropriate interventions. Key coverage addresses diverse approaches and applications in multiple areas across the lifespan. Among the subject areas covered are: - Perceived self-efficacy and its relationship to resilience. - Resilience and mental health promotion in the schools. - Resilience in childhood disorders. - Critical resources for recovering from stress. - Diversity, ecological, and lifespan issues in resilience. - Exploring resilience through the lens of core self-evaluation. Resilience in Children, Adolescents, and Adults is an important resource for researchers, clinicians and allied professionals, and graduate students in such fields as clinical child, school, and developmental psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, education, counseling psychology, social work, and pediatrics.

Responsible Research with Biological Select Agents and Toxins

Responsible Research with Biological Select Agents and Toxins
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2010-01-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309150299

The effort to understand and combat infectious diseases has, during the centuries, produced many key advances in science and medicine-including the development of vaccines, drugs, and other treatments. A subset of this research is conducted with agents that, like anthrax, not only pose a severe threat to the health of humans, plants, and animals but can also be used for ill-intended purposes. Such agents have been listed by the government as biological select agents and toxins. The 2001 anthrax letter attacks prompted the creation of new regulations aimed at increasing security for research with dangerous pathogens. The outcome of the anthrax letter investigation has raised concern about whether these measures are adequate. Responsible Research with Biological Select Agents and Toxins evaluates both the physical security of select agent laboratories and personnel reliability measures designed to ensure the trustworthiness of those with access to biological select agents and toxins. The book offers a set of guiding principles and recommended changes to minimize security risk and facilitate the productivity of research. The book recommends fostering a culture of trust and responsibility in the laboratory, engaging the community in oversight of the Select Agent Program, and enhancing the operation of the Select Agent Program.

New Developments in Pathways Towards Diversity and Inclusion in STEM: A United States Perspective

New Developments in Pathways Towards Diversity and Inclusion in STEM: A United States Perspective
Author: Alexander Gates
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2022-10-17
Genre: Education
ISBN: 2832505813

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program of the US National Science Foundation has been a primary force for raising the success and graduation of minority students in STEM for 30 years. Increasing the number of underrepresented students earning baccalaureate degrees, and entering graduate school in STEM is the goal of LSAMP. This goal has been nearly achieved through the formation of alliances of degree granting institutions of higher learning, varying from community colleges to major research institutions. Currently there are 59 alliances including more than 400 institutions. LSAMP is responsible for more than 650,000 bachelor’s degrees earned by minority students in STEM. The papers for this Research Topic should focus on the use of LSAMP activities, programs and collaborations to develop pathways to success and graduation of STEM majors from minority groups that underrepresented in STEM. These pathways can include any segment from pre-college through graduate school. Areas of special interest include mentoring, research experiences, transitions between levels and novel approaches for retention. The studies should be research based and rigorous. They can be pure research studies, curriculum and design or literature reviews but they must be at a cutting edge level and be subject to detailed review and assessment.

Identity Development during STEM Integration for Underrepresented Minority Students

Identity Development during STEM Integration for Underrepresented Minority Students
Author: Sophie L. Kuchynka
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 98
Release: 2020-11-26
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1108897940

Over the past three decades, research efforts and interventions have been implemented across the United States to increase the persistence of underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This Element systematically compares STEM interventions that offer resources and opportunities related to mentorship, research, and more. We organize the findings of this literature into a multi-phase framework of STEM integration and identity development. We propose four distinct phases of STEM integration: Phase 1: High School; Phase 2: Summer before College; Phase 3: First Year of College; and Phase 4: Second Year of College through Graduation. We combine tenets of theories about social identity, stereotypes and bias, and the five-factor operationalization of identity formation to describe each phase of STEM integration. Findings indicate the importance of exploration through exposure to STEM material, mentorship, and diverse STEM communities. We generalize lessons from STEM interventions to URM students across institutions.

Computer-Mediated Learning for Workforce Development

Computer-Mediated Learning for Workforce Development
Author: Mentor, Dominic
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2018-06-08
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1522541128

Technology has become a driving force of innovation in every industry and professionals need to strengthen their proficiency in emerging technologies to remain competitive. Today’s working world is very demanding of young professionals, as recent graduates are expected to come into their chosen field both knowledgeable and ready to hit the ground running, with minimal on-the-job training. Computer-Mediated Learning for Workforce Development delivers crucial knowledge on how to prepare twenty-first century students for today’s fast-paced workforce. This book explores the use of multimedia programs in classrooms to train students on necessary technology skills through techniques such as game-based training curriculums and massive open online courses (MOOCs). This publication also touches on computer-mediated youth civic action and interaction by examining the use of social media during the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and Black Lives Matter movements. Filled with critical information on educational technology, mobile learning, and employment preparation, this book is a vital resource for academicians, education practitioners, school administrators, and advanced-level students.