The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has received awards totaling nearly $20 million, which the group will put towards efforts to disadvantaged and minority students.
The three awards – from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Tiger Global Impact Ventures (TGIV), and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation – will fund three initiatives: a research and professional development initiative to create practices to support students from low-income backgrounds; a data collection and use improvement initiative to better understand LGBTQ scientists’ educational and career trajectories; and a capacity-building initiative to create equitable pathways for students from minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to earn graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM).
The Inclusive STEMM Ecosystems for Equity & Diversity (ISEED) at AAAS will lead the initiatives.
The research and professional development initiative will be a five-year endeavor called S-STEM Resource and Evaluation Center (REC), funded by $17 million from the NSF.
Understanding LGBTQ students’ and scholars’ trajectories in STEMM is limited due to insufficient accurate sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) demographic data. The data collection improvement initiative seeks to rectify this, with $2 million from TGIV.
Lastly, the pathway-building initiative, the Equitable Pathways Partnership (EPP) program, will be funded by $626,000 from The Alfred Sloan P. Foundation.
“Who can participate in science and engineering matters. Assembling diverse teams is critical to unlock our country’s full potential to achieve scientific excellence and boost economic prosperity,” said Dr. Sudip S. Parikh, AAAS CEO and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. “If we enable a more diverse and inclusive workforce, diversify our Ph.D. pool and encourage a more global workforce to innovate in the U.S., we will be better prepared to navigate uncertain times and more effectively tackle climate change and other emerging challenges.”
