Clearing a Path for Latino Scientists
Whether by choice or by necessity, community colleges are the dominant institution for Latino students: Nearly three in five Hispanic students in postsecondary education attend a two-year college, a far greater proportion than for any other racial or ethnic group.
So to the extent that Latinos are underrepresented among bachelor's degree recipients in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, increasing the flow of STEM students from community colleges to four-year institutions -- and better ensuring the success of those who go on to Hispanic-serving institutions -- is likely to be the best way to attack that deficit, a new report argues.
The study, "Improving Transfer Access to STEM Bachelor’s Degrees at Hispanic Serving Institutions through the America COMPETES Act," is the latest of a series of a reports prepared by the University of Southern California's Center for Urban Education. It is part of a three-year projectfinanced by the National Science Foundation aimed at helping the NSF carry out a provision in the America COMPETES Act directing it to develop a Hispanic Serving Institutions Undergraduate Initiative. The report was prepared by Alicia C. Dowd and Elsa E. Macias, of the Center for Urban Education, and Lindsey E. Malcom, an assistant professor at the University of California at Riverside.
The study shows that while the number of Latinos earning bachelor's degrees has increased over the last decade, the growth has occurred disproportionately in non-science fields and in the social sciences and
