The shortfalls of K-12 education
Corporate executives, scientists, and educators
may all have different ideas on how to diversify the SMET
workforce, but most agree on one fundamental: the lack of
diversity in SMET careers can be traced back to the K-12 educational
system.
U.S. Department of Education statistics show
that students in high schools with high minority enrollments
are much more likely to be taught mathematics and science
by a teacher who has neither a degree nor certification in
a math or science content area. Overall, states the CEOSE
report, schools in inner cities, high poverty areas, and in
locales with high minority enrollments tend to have lower
expenditures per student, fewer qualified teachers, less rigorous
curricula, and less computer equipment than schools serving
predominantly white students.
“K-12 education is not doing the job that
it needs to do,” states Richard Tapia, a professor in
the department of computational and applied mathematics at
Rice University, a member of the National Science Board, and
a Mexican American scientist known internationally for his
successful efforts to recruit and maintain minority and female
mathematics and computer science students at Rice. Nevertheless,
he adds, some underrepresented minority, female, and disabled
students make it through that system and become math, science,
and engineering majors in college. There they face a whole
new set of challenges, from isolation to low self-esteem to
feeling they have to succeed for the sake of their racial
or ethnic group. -->>
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