Documenting the Need for Minority Students in Science

A new report from the National Academies outlines the reasons why efforts to improve the science and technology work force in the United States cannot succeed without progress at educating more minority students in these fields. For the United States to reach the national goal of having 10 percent of all 24-year-olds holding a degree in science or engineering disciplines, the number of underrepresented minority students in these fields would need to at least quadruple, the report says. The report highlights steps colleges and universities could take -- based on the successes of some institutions -- in attracting and graduating more minority students in science.