Graduate Student Socialization In Science And Engineering: A Study Of Underrepresented Minorities' Experiences

Since the early 1970s, when the underrepresentation of females and U.S. racial/ethnic groups in the engineering professions became an exigent national concern, academia, industry, and government agencies have undertaken practices that have improved the participation of minority groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This improvement, however, has been questionable. Recently, for example, Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson has pointed to “a quiet crisis building in the United States”--the declining production of American scientific and technical talent “that could jeopardize the nation’s pre-eminence and well-being.” 1 Left unchecked, “it could reverse the global leadership Americans currently enjoy.” 2 Among the priorities and actions that Jackson argues for is to nurture the graduate education of underrepresented groups, who must become an integral part of the U.S. technical workforce and may serve as role models for younger generations.