INTRODUCTION

With the assistance of the National Science Foundation, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) convened a STEM Task Force, a diverse panel of scientists and university administrators, to help develop a set of recommendations on both policy changes and high-impact practices to improve the participation and success rates of Hispanics in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. 1

Hispanics continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields, both in undergraduate and graduate studies and in professional STEM careers. 2

Hispanics make up 16 percent of the overall U.S. labor market and are expected to account for one out of every two new workers entering the workforce by 2025; 66,000 are turning 18 every month. 3

The U.S. Census Bureau projects 4

that Hispanic demographic growth in the U.S. will continue throughout this century, the persistent underrepresentation of Hispanics in STEM poses a serious challenge for an economy (and on national security) increasingly dependent on innovation in science and technology.

We should note at the outset that our understanding of STEM careers includes a wide range of possibilities requiring a variety of levels of education or certification. Without being exhaustive, the list of careers would certainly include university-, government-, and corporation-based research scientists, college and university science faculty and technicians, PK-12 science teachers, a wide variety of technicians, scientists and engineers working in an array of industries, especially in information technologies, and science and technology-related entrepreneurs. To this list might be added other non-STEM professions like accounting, finance and law that in some industries require competency in STEM concepts in order to function effectively. Finally, but not least, there is a universal need for some measure of scientific literacy in a culture in which critical political and social issues require a basic understanding of science, its possibilities and limitations, in order for there to be informed public opinion and genuinely democratic decision-making. One need only think of current issues around the environment, military technology, energy, and communications, to understand why improved STEM education is critical for everyone. Failing to be scientifically literate is to be deprived of intelligent participation in the world today.

We also note that the Hispanic community in the United States is not monolithic. It includes Hispanics whose ancestors lived in what is now the U.S. since before we became a nation, as well as the most recent immigrants. It includes Hispanics whose ancestors lived in what is now the U.S. since before it became a nation, as well as the most recent immigrants. It includes populations who trace their roots directly to Spain, as well as much larger numbers whose more immediate roots are in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, or other nations in Central and South America. It includes individuals and families who enjoy great wealth, education, and privilege, some in the white- and blue-collar middle class, and too many in the lowest deciles of the socio-economic ranks. We say this to remind ourselves and our readers that, while some level of generalization is necessary, we should also be alert to this diversity of the U.S. Hispanic population and avoid falling into inaccurate and harmful stereotypes.

Bearing in mind what has just been said, it is nevertheless likely that one of the (if not the) chief contributors to the underrepresentation of Hispanics in STEM fields is disproportionate levels of poverty and attendant limitations on educational opportunity. A recent Census Bureau report 5

noted that the Hispanic poverty rate reached a historic low of 18.3 percent in 2017 marking steady improvement since the beginning of the Great Recession. However, that is still more than twice the poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites and leaves almost one in five Hispanics in poverty. More tellingly, ChildTrends reports 6 that 25 percent of Hispanic children under 18 live in poverty, compared with 11 percent of non-Hispanic white children. These disproportionate levels of poverty have consequences for many Hispanics throughout the educational pipeline.

1 We are grateful to the National Science Foundation for grant 1457940 that supported the participation of this Task Force over a series of three meetings in this effort.

2 See, for example, Pew Research Center, “7 Facts About the STEM Workforce,” January, 2018, at https://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2018/01/09/7-facts-about-the-stem-workforce/, which notes that while Hispanics comprise16 percent of the national workforce, they make up only 8 percent of the STEM workforce.

3 The Changing U.S. Workforce: The Growing Hispanic Demographic and the Workforce. A Research Report by the Human Resource Management and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus at https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/public-policy/hr-public-policy-issues/Documents/15-0746%20CHCI_ Research_Report_FNL.pdf

4 See U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 National Population Projections: Summary Tables, Tables 10 and 11, at http://www.census.gov/population/ projections/data/national/2014/summarytables.html.