An organization whose purpose is to broaden the diversity of the science
and engineering workforce has issued two reports addressing this issue.
At an April 29 Capitol Hill event, BEST (Building Engineering and Science
Talent) released studies of best practices, at the pre-K-12 level and
in the workplace, for attracting and retaining women, underrepresented
minorities, and persons with disabilities to science, technology, engineering
and math (STEM) careers. A third BEST report, on higher education,
was released separately and will be summarized in FYI
#60.
"What it Takes: Pre-K-12 Design Principles to Broaden Participation
in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics," focuses
on "what is working" to encourage STEM participation and
achievement among children from underrepresented groups. In introducing
the report, Shirley Malcolm, the pre-K-12 Panel Co-chair, stated that
the nation has to "invest in research and analysis.... We can't
just keep winging it." She noted that, of the 34 programs examined
for the report, none had sufficient proof of effectiveness to be considered "verified," and
only two earning a rating of "probable effectiveness." Eighteen
others were considered "notable" or "meriting further
research investment."
From its analysis, the BEST panel was able to identify "a framework
of design principles or shared features" of effective programs:
agreed-upon and well-defined outcomes; persistence; personalization
of the programs to acknowledge the individual development of students;
challenging content; and adults - teachers and parents - who are engaged
and supportive. From this list, Malcolm said, a list of principles
can also be distilled for "how to make things worse," including
blurred vision; trying the "intervention du jour;" competing
agendas; inconsistent leadership; overreliance on testing and teaching
to inadequate tests; and schools and classes that are too large.
The report also highlights the importance of deepening the knowledge
base on such programs. "The fact that a substantial search for
effective programs turned up relatively little research evidence is
in itself an important finding," it says. "The national interest
lies in deepening the research base as quickly and cost effectively
as possible." The panel's additional recommendations are to tighten "the
links between research, policy and practice" so that research
findings are accessible and relevant to school administrators and policymakers,
and to align system-wide approaches that address all students with
targeted approaches tailored to specific groups.
"For all its strength, the human resource base of U.S. innovation
lacks bench-strength and diversity," states the second report, "The
Talent Imperative: Diversifying America's Science and Engineering Workforce." "Half
of the technical workforce is over 40 and almost one-third of technical
workers are over 50," the report continues. "Despite decades
of effort, this workforce remains over 75 percent male and 80 percent
white. A successor generation has shown declining interest in key fields
- including mathematics, computer science, physical sciences and engineering
- upon which future technological progress depends."
To identify diversity programs that have been nationally recognized
as effective, the BEST workforce panel looked at diversity-related
awards and "best to work for" lists. Although acknowledging
that "there is no one-size-fits-all explanation to an imbalance
that has persisted in our nation's technical workforce," the panel
identified "a common set of design principles and implementing
practices" of these programs: sustained commitment to change;
a strategy that is seamlessly integrated into the entire organization;
high expectations and management accountability; and continuous improvement
with regular cycles of planning, execution and evaluation.
The panel also recommended "a mutually reinforcing set of four
mechanisms" to drive change on a national scale: a leadership
commitment to inclusiveness, exemplified by a public pledge to diversity;
a workforce leadership network to encourage others to take action and
to share best practices; well-documented toolkits for workforce development;
and a national workforce excellence award modeled on the Malcolm Baldrige
Award.
"Upstream barriers" in pre-K-12 and higher education and
workplace barriers "cannot be overcome in isolation," the
workforce report states. "At the same time, transformational changes
in the workplace will not occur without a greater inflow of technical
talent from underrepresented groups. The end users of America's talent
pool share responsibility for leadership in opening up the opportunity
structure across the board."
BEST is a public-private partnership, initiated by the Council on
Competitiveness, to "spur action to build a stronger, more diverse
U.S. technical workforce." The reports, or their executive summaries,
are available at http://www.bestworkforce.org/ under "Publications."
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