Broadening Participation in STEM Education Act - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to implement or expand research-based reforms in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to recruit and retain minority students who are underrepresented in STEM fields.
Authorizes the use of such grants on reforms that include: (1) bridge, cohort, tutoring, or mentoring programs; (2) outreach to minority elementary and secondary school students; (3) faculty development and recognition programs; (4) efforts to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in the full gamut of STEM disciplines offered by IHEs; (5) efforts to increase and support their participation in research; and (6) support for the participation of minority graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in instructional or assessment activities at primarily undergraduate IHEs.
Requires each grant to include an education research component so that reform efforts can be evaluated and, if shown to be effective, replicated to improve the participation of minority students in STEM fields at other schools.
Requires the Director of the NSF to award competitive grants to IHEs to develop innovative reform efforts designed to increase the recruitment, retention, and advancement of individuals from underrepresented minority groups in academic STEM careers.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4483 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4483
To authorize the Director of the National Science Foundation to provide
grants to institutions of higher education for implementing or
expanding reforms in undergraduate science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) education in order to increase the number of
students from underrepresented minority groups receiving degrees in
these fields, and to recruit, retain, and advance STEM faculty members
from underrepresented minority groups at institutions of higher
education.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2012
Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (for herself, Ms. Wilson of Florida,
Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Rush, Mr. Conyers,
Mr. Lujan, Mr. Hinojosa, and Ms. Fudge) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Director of the National Science Foundation to provide
grants to institutions of higher education for implementing or
expanding reforms in undergraduate science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) education in order to increase the number of
students from underrepresented minority groups receiving degrees in
these fields, and to recruit, retain, and advance STEM faculty members
from underrepresented minority groups at institutions of higher
education.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Broadening Participation in STEM
Education Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) One of the National Science Foundation's core missions
is ``to achieve excellence in U.S. science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) education''.
(2) STEM education at the undergraduate level is vital to
developing a workforce that will allow the United States to
remain the leader in the 21st century global economy.
(3) In 2007, underrepresented minority groups comprised
33.2 percent of the college-age population of the United
States, but only 17.7 percent of undergraduate students earning
bachelor's degrees in STEM fields.
(4) The Higher Education Research Institute at the
University of California, Los Angeles, found that, while
freshmen from underrepresented minority groups express an
interest in pursuing a STEM undergraduate degree at the same
rate as all other freshmen, only 22.1 percent of Latino
students, 18.4 percent of African-American students, and 18.8
percent of Native American students studying in STEM fields
complete their degree within 5 years, compared to an
approximate 33 percent and 42 percent 5-year completion rate
for White and Asian students, respectively.
(5) Statistics are particularly alarming in specific STEM
fields. For example, even though underrepresented minorities
make up approximately 33 percent of the college-age population,
according to an analysis of National Science Foundation data
performed by the National Action Council for Minorities in
Engineering, students from underrepresented minority groups
earned only 13 percent of all engineering degrees in 2009.
(6) Underrepresented minority groups currently make up
about 29 percent of the United States population. However, only
about 8 percent of tenure-track science and engineering faculty
members at universities and 4-year colleges and less than 1
percent of tenure-track science and engineering faculty members
at the top 100 research universities in the United States are
from underrepresented minority groups.
(7) Students from underrepresented minority groups at
institutions of higher education who see few others ``like
themselves'' among faculty and student populations often do not
experience the social integration that is necessary for success
in all disciplines, including STEM.
(8) The ability to connect students and faculty members
from underrepresented minority groups has been demonstrated to
be successful in increasing the achievement level of students
from underrepresented minority groups studying in STEM fields.
(9) The United States faces a demographic challenge with
regard to STEM education: by 2050, 52 percent of the college-
age population of the United States will be from
underrepresented minority groups.
(10) If the percentage of students from underrepresented
minority groups earning bachelor's degrees in STEM fields does
not significantly increase, the United States will face an
acute shortfall in the overall number of students who earn
degrees in STEM fields.
(11) With this impending shortfall, and with the number of
citizens of other countries earning degrees in STEM fields
increasing, the comparative advantage of the United States STEM
workforce will diminish, and the United States will almost
certainly lose its competitive edge in the 21st century global
economy.
SEC. 3. FOUNDATION SUPPORT FOR BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN
UNDERGRADUATE STEM EDUCATION.
(a) Grants.--The Director shall award grants to institutions of
higher education (or consortia thereof) to implement or expand
research-based reforms in undergraduate STEM education for the purpose
of recruiting and retaining students from minority groups who are
underrepresented in STEM fields.
(b) Merit Review; Competition.--Grants shall be awarded under this
section on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis.
(c) Use of Funds.--Activities supported by grants under this
section may include--
(1) implementation or expansion of innovative, research-
based approaches to broaden participation of underrepresented
minority groups in STEM fields;
(2) implementation or expansion of bridge, cohort,
tutoring, or mentoring programs designed to enhance the
recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented
minority groups in STEM fields;
(3) implementation or expansion of outreach programs
linking institutions of higher education and K-12 school
systems in order to heighten awareness among pre-college
students from underrepresented minority groups of opportunities
in college-level STEM fields and STEM careers;
(4) implementation or expansion of faculty development
programs focused on improving retention of undergraduate STEM
students from underrepresented minority groups;
(5) implementation or expansion of mechanisms designed to
recognize and reward faculty members who demonstrate a
commitment to increasing the participation of students from
underrepresented minority groups in STEM fields;
(6) expansion of successful reforms aimed at increasing the
number of STEM students from underrepresented minority groups
beyond a single course or group of courses to achieve reform
within an entire academic unit, or expansion of successful
reform efforts beyond a single academic unit to other STEM
academic units within an institution of higher education;
(7) expansion of opportunities for students from
underrepresented minority groups to conduct STEM research in
industry, at Federal labs, and at international research
institutions or research sites;
(8) provision of stipends for students from
underrepresented minority groups participating in research;
(9) support for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows
from underrepresented minority groups to participate in
instructional or assessment activities at primarily
undergraduate institutions, including primarily undergraduate
minority-serving institutions and two-year institutions of
higher education; and
(10) other activities consistent with subsection (a), as
determined by the Director.
(d) Selection Process.--
(1) Application.--An institution of higher education (or
consortia thereof) seeking a grant under this section shall
submit an application to the Director at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information and assurances as the
Director may require. The application shall include, at a
minimum--
(A) a description of the proposed reform effort;
(B) a description of the research findings that
will serve as the basis for the proposed reform effort
or, in the case of applications that propose an
expansion of a previously implemented reform, a
description of the previously implemented reform
effort, including data about the recruitment,
retention, and academic achievement of students from
underrepresented minority groups;
(C) evidence of an institutional commitment to, and
support for, the proposed reform effort, including a
long-term commitment to implement successful strategies
from the current reform beyond the academic unit or
units included in the grant proposal;
(D) a description of existing or planned
institutional policies and practices regarding faculty
hiring, promotion, tenure, and teaching assignment that
reward faculty contributions to improving the education
of students from underrepresented minority groups in
STEM; and
(E) how the success and effectiveness of the
proposed reform effort will be evaluated and assessed
in order to contribute to the national knowledge base
about models for catalyzing institutional change.
(2) Review of applications.--In selecting grant recipients
under this section, the Director shall consider, at a minimum--
(A) the likelihood of success of the proposed
reform effort at the institution submitting the
application, including the extent to which the faculty,
staff, and administrators of the institution are
committed to making the proposed institutional reform a
priority of the participating academic unit or units;
(B) the degree to which the proposed reform effort
will contribute to change in institutional culture and
policy such that greater value is placed on faculty
engagement in the retention of students from
underrepresented minority groups;
(C) the likelihood that the institution will
sustain or expand the proposed reform effort beyond the
period of the grant; and
(D) the degree to which evaluation and assessment
plans are included in the design of the proposed reform
effort.
(3) Priority.--For applications that include an expansion
of existing reforms beyond a single academic unit, the Director
shall give priority to applications for which a senior
institutional administrator, such as a dean or other
administrator of equal or higher rank, serves as the principal
investigator.
(4) Grant distribution.--The Director shall ensure, to the
extent practicable, that grants awarded under this section are
made to a variety of types of institutions of higher education,
including two-year and minority-serving institutions of higher
education.
(e) Education Research.--
(1) In general.--All grants made under this section shall
include an education research component that will support the
design and implementation of a system for data collection and
evaluation of proposed reform efforts in order to build the
knowledge base on promising models for increasing recruitment
and retention of students from underrepresented minority groups
in STEM education at the undergraduate level across a diverse
set of institutions.
(2) Dissemination.--The Director shall coordinate with
relevant Federal agencies in disseminating the results of the
research under this subsection to ensure that best practices in
broadening participation in STEM education at the undergraduate
level are made readily available to all institutions of higher
education, other Federal agencies that support STEM programs,
non-Federal funders of STEM education, and the general public.
SEC. 4. FOUNDATION SUPPORT FOR INCREASING DIVERSITY AMONG STEM FACULTY
AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
(a) Grants.--The Director shall award grants to institutions of
higher education (or consortia thereof) for the development of
innovative reform efforts designed to increase the recruitment,
retention, and advancement of individuals from underrepresented
minority groups in academic STEM careers.
(b) Merit Review; Competition.--Grants shall be awarded under this
section on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis.
(c) Use of Funds.--Activities supported by grants under this
section may include--
(1) institutional assessment activities, such as data
analyses and policy review, in order to identify and address
specific issues in the recruitment, retention, and advancement
of faculty members from underrepresented minority groups;
(2) implementation of institution-wide improvements in
workload distribution, such that faculty members from
underrepresented minority groups are not disadvantaged in the
amount of time available to focus on research, publishing
papers, and engaging in other activities required to achieve
tenure status and run a productive research program;
(3) development and implementation of training courses for
administrators and search committee members to ensure that
candidates from underrepresented minority groups are not
subject to implicit biases in the search and hiring process;
(4) development and hosting of intra- or inter-
institutional workshops to propagate best practices in
recruiting, retaining, and advancing faculty members from
underrepresented minority groups;
(5) professional development opportunities for faculty
members from underrepresented minority groups;
(6) activities aimed at making undergraduate STEM students
from underrepresented minority groups aware of opportunities
for academic careers in STEM fields;
(7) activities to identify and engage exceptional graduate
students from underrepresented minority groups at various
stages of their studies and to encourage them to enter academic
careers; and
(8) other activities consistent with subsection (a), as
determined by the Director.
(d) Selection Process.--
(1) Application.--An institution of higher education (or
consortia thereof) seeking funding under this subsection shall
submit an application to the Director at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information and assurances as the
Director may require. The application shall include, at a
minimum, a description of--
(A) the reform effort that is being proposed for
implementation by the institution of higher education;
(B) any available evidence of specific difficulties
in the recruitment, retention, and advancement of
faculty members from underrepresented minority groups
in STEM academic careers within the institution of
higher education submitting an application, and how the
proposed reform effort would address such issues;
(C) how the institution of higher education
submitting an application plans to sustain the proposed
reform effort beyond the duration of the grant; and
(D) how the success and effectiveness of the
proposed reform effort will be evaluated and assessed
in order to contribute to the national knowledge base
about models for catalyzing institutional change.
(2) Review of applications.--In selecting grant recipients
under this section, the Director shall consider, at a minimum--
(A) the likelihood of success in undertaking the
proposed reform effort at the institution of higher
education submitting the application, including the
extent to which the administrators of the institution
are committed to making the proposed reform effort a
priority;
(B) the degree to which the proposed reform effort
will contribute to change in institutional culture and
policy such that greater value is placed on the
recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty
members from underrepresented minority groups;
(C) the likelihood that the institution of higher
education will sustain or expand the proposed reform
effort beyond the period of the grant; and
(D) the degree to which evaluation and assessment
plans are included in the design of the proposed reform
effort.
(3) Grant distribution.--The Director shall ensure, to the
extent practicable, that grants awarded under this section are
made to a variety of types of institutions of higher education.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the National Science Foundation.
(2) Foundation.--The term ``Foundation'' means the National
Science Foundation established under section 2 of the National
Science Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861).
(3) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given that
term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(4) STEM.--The term ``STEM'' means the academic and
professional disciplines of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E643)
Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education.
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