Diversity In Science & Engineering: Progress And Problems
December 10, 1996Amid a few signs of recent progress towards more diversity in education and the workplace, underrepresentation persists. For example, women and minorities continue to take fewer high-level mathematics and science courses in high school; they still earn fewer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in science and engineering (S&E); and they remain less likely to be employed in S&E jobs than are white males.
Those are the conclusions of a new government report, Women, Minorities and Persons With Disabilities in Science and Engineering 1996. Published by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the report reveals progress as well as signs of persistent underrepresentation:
- Among 1994 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) takers, fewer women (13 percent) than men (31 percent) intended to pursue natural science, mathematics, or engineering fields. Yet, women's grades among first-year college students planning S&E majors are higher than men's.
- A substantial gap in mean salary -- $13,200 -- exists between men and women with S&E doctorates. Much of the gap is due to differences in age and S&E field.
- Women are less likely to be on a tenure track and are more likely to teach part time or on short-term contracts.
- 60 percent of both white and Asian high schoolers took Algebra II in 1992, while less than half of blacks, Hispanics and American Indians did so.
- Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians are taking more high school science classes than in the past. The percentage of blacks and Hispanics taking chemistry and physics doubled between 1982 and 1992.
- Minorities (except Asians) remain a small proportion of U.S. scientists and engineers. Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians as a group were 23 percent of the U.S. population, but 6 percent of the S&E labor force in 1993.
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to play an important role in undergraduate education, despite the growing diversity of the nation's campuses. Thirty percent of black students receiving S&E bachelor's degrees in 1993 received them from HBCUs.
- About 20 percent of the U.S. population has some form of disability. These people made up about 13 percent of all employed persons in the United States in 1991 and five percent of the 1993 S&E labor force.
- Employed S&Es with disabilities are comparable to those without disabilities in employment sector, primary work activity and managerial status.
"Women, minorities and persons with disabilities have historically been underrepresented in scientific and engineering occupations," the introduction to the NSF report notes. "Some progress has been made over the last several decades, especially in degrees to women, but there is still room for improvement."
-end-
National Science Foundation
Related Engineering Articles from Brightsurf:
Re-engineering antibodies for COVID-19
Catholic University of America researcher uses 'in silico' analysis to fast-track passive immunity
Next frontier in bacterial engineering
A new technique overcomes a serious hurdle in the field of bacterial design and engineering.
COVID-19 and the role of tissue engineering
Tissue engineering has a unique set of tools and technologies for developing preventive strategies, diagnostics, and treatments that can play an important role during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Engineering the meniscus
Damage to the meniscus is common, but there remains an unmet need for improved restorative therapies that can overcome poor healing in the avascular regions.
Artificially engineering the intestine
Short bowel syndrome is a debilitating condition with few treatment options, and these treatments have limited efficacy.
Reverse engineering the fireworks of life
An interdisciplinary team of Princeton researchers has successfully reverse engineered the components and sequence of events that lead to microtubule branching.
New method for engineering metabolic pathways
Two approaches provide a faster way to create enzymes and analyze their reactions, leading to the design of more complex molecules.
Engineering for high-speed devices
A research team from the University of Delaware has developed cutting-edge technology for photonics devices that could enable faster communications between phones and computers.
Breakthrough in blood vessel engineering
Growing functional blood vessel networks is no easy task. Previously, other groups have made networks that span millimeters in size.
Next-gen batteries possible with new engineering approach
Dramatically longer-lasting, faster-charging and safer lithium metal batteries may be possible, according to Penn State research, recently published in Nature Energy.
Read More: Engineering News and Engineering Current Events
Catholic University of America researcher uses 'in silico' analysis to fast-track passive immunity
Next frontier in bacterial engineering
A new technique overcomes a serious hurdle in the field of bacterial design and engineering.
COVID-19 and the role of tissue engineering
Tissue engineering has a unique set of tools and technologies for developing preventive strategies, diagnostics, and treatments that can play an important role during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Engineering the meniscus
Damage to the meniscus is common, but there remains an unmet need for improved restorative therapies that can overcome poor healing in the avascular regions.
Artificially engineering the intestine
Short bowel syndrome is a debilitating condition with few treatment options, and these treatments have limited efficacy.
Reverse engineering the fireworks of life
An interdisciplinary team of Princeton researchers has successfully reverse engineered the components and sequence of events that lead to microtubule branching.
New method for engineering metabolic pathways
Two approaches provide a faster way to create enzymes and analyze their reactions, leading to the design of more complex molecules.
Engineering for high-speed devices
A research team from the University of Delaware has developed cutting-edge technology for photonics devices that could enable faster communications between phones and computers.
Breakthrough in blood vessel engineering
Growing functional blood vessel networks is no easy task. Previously, other groups have made networks that span millimeters in size.
Next-gen batteries possible with new engineering approach
Dramatically longer-lasting, faster-charging and safer lithium metal batteries may be possible, according to Penn State research, recently published in Nature Energy.
Read More: Engineering News and Engineering Current Events
Brightsurf.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.