Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership Directs Study On Women And Minorities In Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fields for Regent Universities

Faculty and staff from the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, along with the Iowa Department of Education conducted a legislative study of the proportion of women and minority students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in universities. The study, charged to the State of Iowa Board of Regents, by the Iowa General Assembly, and presented to the BOR on Dec. 11, includes recommendations for improving the proportion of women and minorities enrolled in these programs.

The report states that currently, women and some U.S. minorities are under-represented in some STEM majors, reflective of a national challenge of under-representation in these fields of study. Iowa's Regent universities have seen steady improvement in the past nine years. Males and females in high school appear to perform similarly in math and science classes, but at the college level, female enrollment in these fields is disproportionately lower than the female percentages across university programs. Both women and U.S. minorities are under-represented in some STEM fields, such as computer science, physical science and engineering. However, the percentage of minority students enrolled in STEM fields is approximately the same as the overall percentage of minority students at the Regent universities, which is not true for women.

The report offers seven recommendations to the Regent universities for increasing the proportion of women and minorities in STEM fields. These recommendations include encouraging additional collaborations across the Regent universities and other statewide educational and professional organizations, and professional development opportunities for faculty who teach and mentor in these fields to help them manage classrooms and research programs welcoming of diversity.