On behalf of The National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) are working together to examine how to better leverage NSF resources to broaden participation in STEM. The primary goal of our work is to provide NSF with both strategic and tactical guidance on how to rethink its investment in undergraduate STEM education across its programs. To disseminate our research findings and to make people more aware of the importance of broadening minority participation in STEM education, we will be launching BroadeningSTEM.org. This website will feature data, research, interactive tools, and commentary on STEM talent development in the United States. Released periodically, our publications in the form of data briefs, research briefs, and project reports share objective information on the state of STEM education in the US over the past 20 years.
As a part of this effort, we would like to include interesting anecdotal stories from students and early-career STEM professionals. Some of the questions we ask are: How and why did you choose to study your field of STEM? Who were your main influences in pursuing your course of study or career choice? We invite you to share your experiences, and we anticipate you will express your passion for STEM. It is our hope that reading your story will inspire and encourage other young people to begin or continue their STEM journey!
To be considered for participation, we ask that you complete a short survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/STEMUs. In addition to providing us with basic information about you, the survey is designed to help ensure that we include a wide variety of students and professionals at different stages of their STEM experience. In addition to responding to the survey, we invite you to send us photographs, publications, and your résumé or curriculum vita via email to NSFBPSTEM@air.org. Please feel free to forward the survey to your STEM colleagues. We are excited to hear from you and sincerely hope you will agree to participate!