Diversity in STEM is Critical for the U.S. Research Enterprise
CHIPS and Science Mandated an NSF Diversity Office, Trump Shut it Down
A few years ago, then-President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act that mandated a National Science Foundation (NSF) diversity office. Although this was a Congressional mandate, it is now shut down as part of President Trump’s sweeping efforts to eliminate DEI offices in the federal government. This development not only impacts NSF, an agency that seeks to develop a diverse, skilled, and well-informed workforce that can drive innovation and economic growth. It may also discourage researchers from remaining in scientific fields if we are not able to build the STEM workforce we need to see. In the light of this news, I wanted to bring back some of my old work on the topic, including this podcast which more extensively discussed DEI in STEM and the potential of the CHIPS and Science Act to create positive change in science. I also hope to educate folks on why this matters and raise a call to action.
Background
I strongly believe that we should focus on developing pathways of access to research careers for students from all backgrounds, and that we want our future STEM workforce to reflect the make-up of our society. The CHIPS and Science Act has the potential to achieve this goal. The legislation was adopted by Congress with bipartisan support, and is focused on global competition in science and technology. The NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan called it “the most important U.S. science and engineering legislation in a generation.” It calls for substantial investment in programs that nurture the next generation of scientists, highlighting the need to allocate sufficient resources to turn these programs into a reality.
An article in Inside Higher Ed from Kafui Dzirasa discussed the need for major investments in the legislation to support R&D funding and emerging scientists. Making training programs and those from diversity-related provisions in the CHIPS and Science Act a reality can support the future of science and technology in this country by ensuring a strong and robust STEM workforce to address our nation’s most pressing challenges. To this end, I recommend watching a presentation by Freeman Hrabowski at the National Academies for the 2023 Public Welfare Medal, where he talks about the importance of science education and increasing cultural diversity within the science workforce.
Diversity Provisions in CHIPS and Science
Several provisions in the legislation focus on diversifying the STEM workforce, and guidance for education and research capacity-building programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE).
One area of focus is the NSF INCLUDES program, which supports the research, collaborative infrastructures, partnerships and networks necessary to address specific, STEM-inclusion challenges at a national scale.
The legislation also directs the NSF to scale-up funding in key research and STEM accounts to support states and territories that historically have received a small share of federal research funds, such as those in EPSCoR jurisdictions, through Established Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research.
Importantly, the legislation creates a Chief Diversity Officer position at NSF and also supports research and dissemination to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. It mandates cross-agency initiatives to expand demographic data collection for NSF grant applicants to make it more clear who is getting or not getting the funding. It proposes R&D and resources for teachers to increase access to STEM education in rural schools, and opens opportunities for online education and mentoring for rural students. It directs the NSF to support research on ways to improve the quality and accessibility of STEM instruction in rural schools which is an important aspect of building the future pipeline.
While much of the legislation is focused on NSF, the DOE Office of Science is also directed to expand efforts to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields that are relevant to its mission. This includes leveraging NSF’s INCLUDES network, building research capacity at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and emerging research institutions (ERNs), and supporting collaborations between teachers and scientists. It further directs the office to develop a 10-year plan for expanding its education and workforce programs for underrepresented groups as well as its outreach to MSIs.
Call to Action
To bring this back to the STEM pipeline, we need to support robust federal investments for the science agencies and implement CHIPS and Science provisions, including those on research and diversity in STEM programs. This is critical given that investments made by the federal government in the STEM workforce can lead to recruitment of a more diverse pool of applicants at various stages along the pipeline, including graduate school and postdoctoral work.
In this podcast, we also discussed how to encourage and support students from different backgrounds interested in pursuing graduate and professional studies. The NSF director also in a Science article emphasized that women, people of color, and rural communities may be excluded from the STEM workforce due to a number of reasons, and that supporting young researchers from communities across the country can expose them to better career opportunities.
Another article by Daniel Correa for the Fordham Institute states that more funding needs to be allocated for education research and that this can show promise for increased outcomes for students and the future of our nation, and this is critical given that while we want to make change in educating the next generation, the data to do so is not always available and therefore more research is needed to improve the STEM workforce in the long run by understanding the needs of current populations which can inform mechanisms for change. These two coupled points show that creating opportunities for scientists across the country is important, and that more research is needed to better understand how to support the future workforce.
Other potential solutions include partnerships between academia, industry, and government organizations to advance STEM education and facilitate the implementation of relevant CHIPS and Science Act provisions. Universities are at the center of this hub, given they enroll and train STEM talent in academic laboratories. Nonprofits and scientific societies also play a role in diversifying the scientific community through their membership. Funding agencies can include diversity requirements in grant applications to support a more positive culture in academic labs, and governments should similarly enlist scientists from different backgrounds. By these entities working together, we can build a strong and diverse STEM workforce for the future that can tackle important challenges of our time.
I hope this post has provided some education on why diversity in the STEM workforce is critical to the future of research and our nation’s competitiveness, and shared some ideas for change. I look forward to engaging with others to support this goal.