Highlights investment required to build a domestic high-tech workforce for a strong economy
WASHINGTON, DC - Representatives of the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development (CAWMSET) released recommendations today calling for a national imperative to recruit, train and retain individuals for our domestic workforce among populations vastly underrepresented. Specifically, women, minorities and persons with disabilities represent a potential pool of the science, engineering and technology (SET) workforce not being tapped. Commission members issued a call to action to business, government and academe to meet the growing need for workers skilled in science, engineering and technology.
Elaine Mendoza, CAWMSET Chair and President and CEO of Conceptual MindWorks, Inc., noted: "Our nation's economic prosperity is due, in large part, to the significant growth in science, engineering and technology industries. As these industries, which already face worker shortages, continue to expand, we will lose our global competitive edge if we do not expand the talent pool accordingly."
The Commission was developed under the bipartisan leadership of Congresswoman Connie Morella (R-MD) and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). Morella, who authored the legislation establishing the Commission commented: "We must ensure that we are utilizing the talent of our entire population - not just a narrow slice of it. As Americans, we have begun to recognize the problem, but until we give it priority on our national agenda, and until our scientific and technological workplace reflects our diversity, we are not working to our full potential as a nation."
The Commission's Report was presented on Capitol Hill at a press conference preceding a Hearing of the House Committee on Science. At the press conference, in addition to a nationwide call to action, the Commission outlined specific recommendations that are designed to create systemic change, are national in scope and structured for immediate implementation.
- Creating a strong early education foundation through the promotion of ongoing education reform efforts, including adoption of statewide standards in math and science, increases in the number of qualified math and science teachers, and legislation to require school districts to disaggregate achievement data by race/ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, and disability status.
- Promoting greater access to higher education among diverse groups through targeted intervention efforts and increased financial support for students at the high school transition points into postsecondary education and at the community college transition into four year colleges.
- Promoting greater parity in job retention, pay and promotion by developing and disseminating a national model of a diverse workplace environment that successfully recruits, retains and advances the careers of women, minorities and persons with disabilities.
- Changing the often negative public image of scientists, engineers, and high-tech workers through the establishment of public/private partnerships that coordinate media and image campaigns promoting positive and diverse images of SET workers.
Finally, the Commission called for the establishment of a public-private partnership to implement and benchmark the recommendations established by the Commission with the development of appropriate programs and action items through government, industry and academe partners to monitor and further progress towards the Commission's goal of domestic workforce parity.
Several partners in this ongoing effort were announced at the press conference, including: America Online; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the American Association of Community Colleges; the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics; the Association for Women Geoscientists; the Association for Women in Science; the American Geological Institute; the Center for Women in Science and Engineering; The Document Company Xerox; the Institute for Women and Technology; Microsoft Corporation; the National Academy of Engineering; the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering Inc.; the National Science Teachers Association; the National Society of Black Engineers; the National Urban League; Paralysis Society of America; the Society of Women Engineers; Women in Engineering Programs Advocates Network; and Women In Technology. According to Gary May, Chair of the National Advisory Board of the National Society of Black Engineers, "Working together with legislators, educators and business partners, we can effect significant change towards opening the doors of opportunity to all our citizens and securing our global future."
In addition to Congresswoman Morella and CAWMSET Chair Elaine Mendoza, participants in the press conference included: Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren; Dr. Rita Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation; Dr. Neal Lane, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Policy, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Dr. George Campbell Jr., formerly President and CEO of NACME, Inc., America's largest privately funded source of minority engineering scholarships; and the new President of the Cooper Union; Dr. Kathryn O. Johnson, Owner & Project Manager of MATRIX Consulting Group, a South Dakota firm that consults on issues related to environmental science; and actress Danica McKellar, a mathematics graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development (CAWMSET) was established by Congress on October 14, 1998 to research and recommend ways to improve the recruitment, retention, and representation of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science, engineering and technology education and employment. Congresswoman Constance Morella, Chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Technology, authored the legislation establishing the Commission, which has coordinated its study and development of the Report through the National Science Foundation. The Commission is also supported by an Interagency Steering Committee comprised of senior officials at the federal agencies whose missions encompass human resources in science, engineering, and technology.