(AGENPARL) – mer 07 giugno 2023 June 07, 2023 
RELEASE 23-065
*NASA Awards $5 Million to Women’s Colleges Tackling STEM Gender Gap*
women_in_stem.jpg
An audience member asks a question at the Engaging Women and Girls in STEM
through Data Science event on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, at NASA Headquarters
in Washington. The event was held as part of the White House's United State
of Women Summit.
*/Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani/*
As part of a Biden/Harris initiative, NASA will award more than $5 million
in funding to seven Women’s Colleges and Universities (WCUs) to research
and develop strategies that increase retention of women in STEM degree
programs and careers.
The agency’s Minority University Research and Education Project [1] (MUREP)
created the Women’s Colleges and Universities opportunity to help women
overcome obstacles and barriers to working in the fields of science,
technology, engineering, and math.
This award seeks to address the significant national gender gap and disparate
experiences of women in STEM in the United States, both in higher education
and the workforce.
“This is a very exciting first; we’re making strides to close the
pervasive gender gap in STEM, and Women’s Colleges and Universities are
well-positioned to help drive that positive change,” said NASA Deputy
Administrator Pam Melroy, a graduate from Wellesley College. “It’s more
important than ever we have brilliant, enthusiastic people entering the
workforce and ready to take on the ambitious plans and challenges ahead.”
Created in response to the White House Executive Order 14035 [2]
“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal
Workforce,” this funding opportunity asked Women’s Colleges and
Universities to take advantage of their expertise by developing programs that
encompass academics, research, student support, college prep, career prep,
mentoring, and more. NASA explores the unknown for all, and values diversity,
equity, inclusion, and accessibility for the future STEM and agency
workforce.
The gender gap is reflected in education and workforce data. Women earn 59%
of undergraduate degrees compared to 41% of men, but only 10% of women’s
degrees are in a STEM field as stated by the National Center of Education
Statistics [3]. This pattern follows women into the workplace, where they
represent about 47% of the workforce, but only 27% of STEM jobs as stated by
the U.S. Census Bureau [4]. Among women of color in STEM, fewer than one in
20 are scientists and engineers. At NASA, 26% of the agency’s scientists
and engineers are women.
These programs were developed to factor in gender, race, sexual orientation,
socio-economic status, and other identities that can play a role in
students’ career trajectories. Each awardee also will provide a guidebook
of data, instructions, and best practices to serve as a blueprint for other
Minority-Serving Institutions and Women’s Colleges seeking to create
similar programs.
The selected institutions and their proposed projects are:
* *Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia*
/Alumnae Network & Career Resources Program – STEM Support Anchored at
Agnes Scott College/
* *Alverno College, Milwaukee*
/Alverno College "Launching the Future”: An Intersectional Approach to
Boosting Recruitment and Retention of Women in STEM Undergraduate Education/
* *Cedar Crest College, Allentown, Pennsylvania*
/TOWERS – Tackling Obstacles for Women’s Engagement & Retention in STEM
at Cedar Crest College/
* *College of Saint Mary, Omaha, Nebraska*
/Project BLOOM for Women in STEM – Bolstering Learning, Opportunities,
Outreach, and Mindfulness/
* *Salem Academy and College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina*
/Soar With Salem: A Comprehensive Program to Inspire Women and Girls to
Become the Next Generation of STEM Professionals/
* *Simmons University, Boston*
/DREAM-WSTEM (Dynamic Research Education Academy for Mentoring Women in
STEM)/
* *Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts*
/Developing a Pathway to MaRS (Math Resilient Students) in STEM: A Cascading
Mentorship Model/
MUREP is administered by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM), which
creates opportunities for students to contribute to the agency’s work and
grow their confidence in STEM. For more information about OSTEM, visit:
*https://stem.nasa.gov* [5]
-end-
*Press Contacts*
Katherine Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1288
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[1] https://www.nasa.gov/stem/murep/home/index.html
[5] https://stem.nasa.gov/