[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2217 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2217
To increase the participation of historically underrepresented
demographic groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
education and industry.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2021
Ms. Hirono (for herself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Brown, Mr.
Padilla, and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase the participation of historically underrepresented
demographic groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
education and industry.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Women and Minorities in STEM Booster
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN AND
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN STEM FIELDS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the National Academy of Sciences, STEM
education is critical to ensuring the United States maintains a
diverse and competitive workforce.
(2) According to the United States Census Bureau, women
were still vastly underrepresented in the STEM workforce in
2019: comprising nearly half of the United States workforce (48
percent), but only slightly more than a quarter of STEM workers
(27 percent).
(3) According to the National Science Foundation, women
only represent 28 percent of all science and engineering
workers: comprising 29 percent of physical scientists, 25
percent of computer and mathematical scientists, and 13 percent
of engineers.
(4) According to the National Center of Education
Statistics (NCES), women are more likely than men to switch out
of STEM majors: 32 percent, compared to 26 percent. NCES has
also found that while a higher percentage of bachelor's degrees
are awarded to females than males (58 percent, compared to 42
percent), within STEM fields a lower percentage of bachelor's
degrees were awarded to females than males (36 percent,
compared to 64 percent).
(5) According to the National Action Council for Minorities
in Engineering, Inc., the United States needs to increase the
number of underrepresented minorities who become engineers in
order to remain competitive in a world of technological
innovation.
(6) According to Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC),
data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) tend to
hide the fact that certain AAPI subgroups are still
underrepresented in STEM: with Cambodian (9 percent), Laotian
(8 percent), Hmong (8 percent), and Native Hawaiian and Pacific
Islander (7 percent) workers significantly underrepresented
compared to other workers in the United States (12 percent).
(7) Data also tend to hide the fact that certain subgroups
are underrepresented in postsecondary education: with Cambodian
(18 percent), Hmong (17 percent), Laotian (16 percent), and
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (15 percent) students
receiving a bachelor's degree or higher at lower rates than
other students (30 percent). Furthermore, certain subgroups
also experience poverty at higher rates: with Hmong (28
percent), Cambodian (21 percent), Native Hawaiian and Pacific
Islanders (20 percent), and Laotian (17 percent) households
living below the Federal poverty level at significantly higher
rates than the overall population (15 percent).
(8) Finally, NCES has found that women and underrepresented
minorities leave STEM at higher rates than their counterparts,
leading to a need to develop resources to retain these groups
in STEM.
(b) Program Authorized.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation shall award grants to eligible entities, on a competitive
basis, to enable such eligible entities to carry out the activities
described in subsection (d), in order to increase the participation of
women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics.
(c) Application.--Each eligible entity that desires to receive a
grant under this section shall submit an application to the National
Science Foundation at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Director of the National Science Foundation may
reasonably require.
(d) Authorized Activities.--An eligible entity that receives a
grant under this section shall use such grant funds to carry out one or
more of the following activities designed to increase the participation
of women or minorities underrepresented in science and engineering, or
both:
(1) Online workshops.
(2) Mentoring programs that partner science, technology,
engineering, or mathematics professionals with students.
(3) Internships for undergraduate and graduate students in
the fields of science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics.
(4) Conducting outreach programs that provide elementary
school and secondary school students with opportunities to
increase their exposure to the fields of science, technology,
engineering, or mathematics.
(5) Programs to increase the recruitment and retention of
underrepresented faculty.
(6) Such additional programs as the Director of the
National Science Foundation may determine.
(e) Definitions.--In this Act--
(1) the term ``minority'' means American Indian, Alaskan
Native, Black (not of Hispanic origin), Hispanic (including
persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central or South
American origin), Asian (including underrepresented subgroups),
Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander origin subgroup, or other
ethnic group underrepresented in science and engineering; and
(2) the term ``underrepresented in science and
engineering'' means a minority group whose number of scientists
and engineers per 10,000 population of that group is
substantially below the comparable figure for scientists and
engineers who are White and not of Hispanic origin, as
determined by the Secretary of Education under section 637.4(b)
of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026.
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