Growing Coalition Forms to Increase the Amount of STEM Graduates

10-29-09: Growing Coalition Forms to Increase the Amount of STEM Graduates

Washington DC - Several committed organizations have formed a growing coalition to help drive and increase the amount of Hispanics pursuing and graduating in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

Today we are calling out to America over our concern over the diminishing amount of STEM graduates and its impact on the future competitiveness of our great nation.

Jobs requiring STEM degrees are projected to increase four times as fast as overall job growth and many of the high paying jobs that have granted America its current prosperity and high standard of living will be more and more STEM focused in the future. If the United States does not fill these jobs, other countries around the world will.

Specifically, as our organizations are US Hispanic focused, we are concerned about the drop in Hispanics pursing studies in STEM fields and the disparity in drop-out rates of Hispanics across the country. Hispanics account for approximately 16% of the US population and nearly 50% of the population growth making this not only a Hispanic issue but also a United States problem.

Additionally, less than 40% of students intending to major in STEM fields upon college entrance actually complete a degree in these fields (For underrepresented minorities the rate is below 25%). With these numbers and the explosion of the Hispanic population in the United States, this is alarming, discouraging, and a very serious threat to the competitiveness and prosperity of the United States.

Each organization within the coalition is leading within their resources in many ways (mentoring, scholarships, role models, career fairs, seminars, etc.) to solve this problem and will continue to do so with more tenacity and vigor to change this trend. However, individual or isolated efforts have not produced the desired results. In addition, this coalition cannot do it alone.

To increase more Hispanic participation in STEM and hence the competitiveness of the United States, the coalition calls on policy makers, business community, academia, and parents to accelerate the following areas to help solve this problem.

Our specific recommendations include:

1. Support the organizations within this Hispanic coalition and others who are helping to solve this problem
2. Increase corporate partnerships with all major schools districts
3. Provide Federal Government Funds for this coalition to produce videos of mentors and leverage the power of the internet to showcase positive STEM role models
4. Increase and incent University and K-12 partnerships in the STEM areas
5. Provide tools to parents to help educate their children on how to discuss the importance and advantages of STEM careers and encourage kids to pursue careers in this high demand field
6. Create outreach programs, tools, and enablers for teachers to encourage more students to pursue careers in STEM.
7. Leverage and provide more of the internet, computers and technology to ALL to enhance education and utilize more of these STEM tools of the future.
8. Work with computer manufacturers to create targeted major donations for middle/high school districts prioritized to school districts with high concentration of digital divide.
9. Request the FCC and the respective broadband initiatives to address the lack of broadband available for children enrolled in STEM programs
10. Upgrade advanced Science programs in High School and Universities
11. Action, measurement of progress, improvement, and accountability potentially via a direct report to the US Department of Education responsible for STEM. This person would scale the best practices and results from the many organizations who are focused on this crisis and who have made many recommendations to solve it.

Quotes from several coalition members:

"STEM fields are what will drive US out of this recession and will continue to be a top source of high paying jobs. Focused and deep investment on the Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Math areas will prove as the enabler that helped put our country back in the map as a leading global innovator. Soon the census will validate and confirm that our Hispanic students and professionals have a significant role to play in shaping America's future and helping propel our country forward. Therefore, it's logical and obvious that encouraging our Hispanic students to choose STEM careers is not only good for them professionally but good for the overall health of this nation."

Alejandro Mainetto, Deputy Chief Information Officer(CIO) New York City Department of Education

"When it comes to promoting the importance of STEM careers and Hispanics, CHLI is showing strong leadership by hosting a Congressional briefing to highlight how U.S. Hispanic community will play a pivotal role in the future of our national security and competitiveness within the global economy,” said Octavio A. Hinojosa Mier, CHLI Executive Director. "CHLI looks forward to working with HITEC and other like-minded organizations to increase STEM education and career opportunities.”

Octavio Hinojosa, President, Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute

When I look at the future and jobs of the future in this globally competitive world, I am deeply concerned with our increasing drop-out rates, especially in our inner cities, as well as the decreasing amount of youth pursuing careers in STEM. Many of the high paying jobs of the future are going to be spun out of STEM fields. This demand is being accelerated by the rapid growth of the internet, the intelligence around human genome, artificial intelligence, and the explosive growth of digital information. Closing these gaps and creating more STEM students will have direct positive impact on our GDP and the continued growth and prosperity of the United States.”

David Olivencia, President of HITEC

"It is essential for decision-makers to understand why Latinos are underrepresented in STEM fields,” said Idalia Fernandez, president of the Hispanic College Fund. "These students have the intelligence and ambition to enter these industries – in fact, 40 percent of our organization’s scholarship recipients are pursuing STEM careers – but they need to have a support network, on both ends of their education, to help them choose and persist in these fields.”

Idalia P. Fernandez, President Hispanic College Fund

"With the need for professionals with technical (STEM) expertise set to grow by 50 percent over the next ten years, it’s imperative for the U.S to develop talent from one the fastest growing demographics in the nation. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is leading the movement in outreach and education of young Latinos and their parents on the criticalness of having a college education with a large emphasis on STEM. Just this year HSF enlisted partnerships and commitments from the likes of Marathon Oil ($2.3 million over 3 years for STEM and business careers), P&G ($1.4 million over 4 years under the company’s Live, Learn and Thrive™ scholarship to STEM), and national outreach programs with Google and Exxon specific to on campus STEM career promotion”.

Toby Pearce, Hispanic Scholarship Fund