The question of participation of women and minority in Engineering and Sciences has received some attention in the past. Many federal agencies and universities in the nation have attempted to fill the giant gap between majority enrollees and the rest of the student population. Sporadically, quick fix packages are implemented either to meet state and federal guidelines. Once the audits have run their courses or changes have occurred in the central administration, programs designed to meet the needs of women and minority students are first to be eliminated.
These short sighted policies have devastating effects on the recruitment and the retention of not only women and minority graduate students, women and minority post-doctoral candidates but also, on the recruitment and the retention of women and minority tenure earning faculty. Henceforth, the workforce of the country has been deprived of the contributions of a significant segment of its population. As the educated workforce in Engineering and Sciences is graying, America is limping on this first decade of the 21st Century toward a more technologically separate and unequal society.
Moreover, America is facing a serious and long-term problem in educating sufficient numbers of women and minorities in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. As the nation transitions from a chiefly manufacturing based to a technologically advanced economy, there is growing fear that a so-called digital divide is emerging that will close out entire segments of our society to opportunity in the new economy. The number of women and minorities in STEM disciplines is not only in decline, but there are not enough students from these underrepresented groups entering graduate programs to help close the divide in the future. For example, it is estimated (American Council of Education, fall 2005 meeting) that nearly 70,000 new doctoral graduates from STEM disciplines are needed from women and minorities to bring these groups into balance with their majority counterparts. As America educates and trains two different societies, it runs the substantial deferred risk of creating an environment and social climate conducive to class warfare. next>> |
