The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general STEM association and publishers of the Science family of journals, was awarded the inaugural S-STEM Resource and Evaluation Center award. With support from NSF we will launch a five-year initiative known as S-STEM Resource and Evaluation Center (REC) to provide professional development support to S-STEM scholarship recipients and to support the first national study of the outcomes and impacts of this financial aid. By collecting qualitative and quantitative data, the initiative will shed light on the students’ diverse experiences while measuring effective strategies and practices to increase access and representation in STEM.
This initiative is particularly important because, in the words of the director of NSF, “We must do more to inspire young talent to go into STEM, we have to make bigger investments in STEM education and training, and must work harder to retain people in STEM careers. Those talented individuals currently not pursuing STEM are key to unleashing innovation at speed and scale,” said Sethuraman Panchanathan, NSF director. “The REC will not only help NSF build a community full of diverse scientists and engineers, but it will also offer professional development opportunities for these talented scholars and technical assistance to institutions all over the country, strengthening our national workforce and economy for decades to come.”
