video: This is Shirley Malcom, AAAS head of Education and Human Resources, discussing the surge in science-related doctoral degrees among underrepresented minorities in AGEP institutions. view more
Credit: AAAS
Efforts over the past decade to boost minority participation in the sciences and engineering have been successful, a new report released by AAAS has found. Analysis of Ph.D. recipients from universities participating in a program to increase underrepresented minorities in science-related studies revealed that from 2001 through 2008 the annual number of Ph.D.s awarded to underrepresented minorities in science and technical fields increased by 33.9%, from 623 to 834. When looking at the natural sciences and engineering fields alone, the increase was even greater: 382 to 573, a 50% increase.
"We all want to do things that work. We're looking for programs and strategies that can make a difference," said Shirley Malcom, head of AAAS Education and Human Resources programs. "We have had low numbers that have been languishing. So finally, here's some good news about a set of institutions that have set out to increase the participation of minorities within the sciences and they've done it."
The Ph.D. recipients earned their degrees at 66 universities participating in the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (http://nsfagep.org/index.php). The universities have funding from the National Science Foundation to increase the number of underrepresented minority students -- African Americans, Alaskan Natives, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Pacific Islanders -- pursuing careers in science-related disciplines. The universities developed new approaches to identify, recruit and mentor minority students in doctoral programs.
The study, which was released online this week (http://nsfagep.org/publications.php), examined conferral of doctorates from 2000/2001 through 2007/2008 in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as well as in the behavioral sciences, such as sociology, psychology and political science. Researchers from Campbell-Kibler Associates, a consulting firm specializing in gender and race equity in STEM, assisted AAAS in analyzing the doctorate recipient data from the 66 AGEP institutions.
Some of the AGEP universities did especially well in increasing doctorates awarded to underrepresented minorities. The nine alliance campuses at the University of California, for instance, accounted for nearly 25% of the increase in the average annual number of Ph.D.s awarded to underrepresented minorities by the 66 AGEP universities. On the University of California, Berkeley campus, 57 Ph.D.s were awarded in 2007/2008 to underrepresented minorities in STEM fields, and the Los Angeles campus awarded 39.
James H. Wyche, director of the Division of Human Resource Development at the National Science Foundation, pointed out that AGEP institutions accounted for 56% of all STEM doctoral degrees awarded to underrepresented minorities in the United States in 2005-2006. "The National Science Foundation's AGEP program is making important contributions of the nation's science and engineering workforce," Wyche said. "We are proud of this impressive achievement."
Since AGEP's inception in 1998, AAAS has received NSF grants to track the progress of the program and suggest new directions for improvement. AAAS also works with AGEP grant recipients to help them build the capacity to assess their own performance and identify where improvements can be made.
Watch a brief video of Shirley Malcom, AAAS head of Education and Human Resources, discussing the surge in science-related doctoral degrees among underrepresented minorities in AGEP institutions: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2009/0401minority_phd.shtml#video
Read the full report on the study results: http://nsfagep.org/publications.php
See a list of participating AGEP universities: http://nsfagep.org/AGEP_Directory.pdf
Learn more about the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate: http://www.agep.us/index.asp