By Léo Charbonneau. Canadian employers have been warning for years that they are having trouble finding applicants with the skills required to fill certain jobs. Among the skills they say are in most severe shortage are those related to the STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. More...
By Simona Chiose. Canadian employers have been complaining about a skills shortage of science, technology, engineering and math grads but as Simona Chiose reports, many STEM grads have just as much trouble finding jobs in their field as those in other disciplines. Read more...
In preparation for the IAU Global Meeting of Associations 6, this issue - IAU Horizons, 21, 1 - offers reports on IAU priority areas, new projects and initiatives, especially LGEU, and upcoming events and conferences.
By Ira Harkavy, Nancy Cantor and Myra Burnett. Realizing STEM Equity and Social Innovation through Higher Education-Community Engagement
Universities are key partners for generating knowledge, building intellectual capital, spurring innovation, and improving societal well-being. They are knowledge-advancing and problem-solving institutions that are charged with successfully educating leaders who will be at the cutting edge of innovation and change. Social innovations are certainly needed for promoting equity and diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the United States and around the globe.
A white paper on “Realizing STEM Equity and Diversity through Higher Education-Community Engagement,” supported by the National Science Foundation, was recently produced as part of an international project designed to reduce inequalities in STEM. Download IAU Horizons, 21, 1.
By Mary Beth Marklein. The policy-making arm of the National Science Foundation last week poured a bucket of cold water onto the sometimes fiery debate about whether the United States faces a glut or a shortage of workers trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – typically known as the STEM fields. Read more...
Since 2012, community colleges in Texas have experimented with an alternative approach to remedial math that the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin has developed. Rather than focusing on algebra, the New Mathways Project emphasizes practical math skills and basic quantitative literacy and statistics. Read more...
By Colleen Flaherty. For about as long as anyone can remember, most undergraduate natural science majors have been required to take at least two semesters of calculus. Lots of students -- especially those in the life sciences -- don’t end up using most of what they’ve learned later on in their studies or their careers, but the requirement has endured. Read more...
By Colleen Flaherty. Many studies suggest that women scientists aspiring to careers in academe face roadblocks, including bias -- implicit or overt -- in hiring. But a new study is throwing a curveball into the literature, suggesting that women candidates are favored 2 to 1 over men for tenure-track positions in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. Could it be that STEM gender diversity and bias awareness efforts are working, or even creating a preference for female candidates -- or is something more nuanced going on? Experts say it’s probably both. Read more...
By Chronicle Staff. Report: “Laying the Foundations: Early Findings From the New Mathways Project”
Authors: Elizabeth Zachry Rutschow, senior research associate, and John Diamond, research analyst, both at MDRC
Organization: MDRC, a nonprofit research group
Summary: Mathematics is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for community-college students. More...
By Chronicle Staff. Report: “Faculty Hiring and Tenure by Sex and Race: New Evidence From a National Survey”
Authors: Mark R. Connolly, associate research scientist, and the assistant researchers You-Geon Lee and Julia N. Savoy, all at the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research
Summary: The researchers examined the career trajectories of people with doctorates in the STEM disciplines — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — and related fields to try to determine why women and black or Hispanic people remain especially underrepresented in college faculty positions in those areas. The analysis used recent data from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients, a long-term National Science Foundation study that collects information on doctoral recipients in the STEM fields, social sciences, psychology, and economics over the course of their lives. More...
By Lee Gardner. Earning a Ph.D. in a STEM field is meant to be challenging, but data has shown it can be especially so for minority students. While universities have had some success in diversifying their STEM graduate ranks in recent years, completion rates for Ph.D. candidates who are African-American, Latino, Native American, or Alaska Native have lagged behind those of their white, Asian-American, and foreign counterparts. More.../https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
