In 1994, Dr. Vickers joined the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as an assistant professor in the department of surgery. After serving as an endowed professor at the University of Minnesota from 2006 to 2013, he returned to Alabama to take the position of dean of the medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg Philanthropies have announced the launch of a $150 million effort to directly address historic underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Five partnering HBCUs will receive funding to build pathways toward doctoral degrees in STEM
Black students earned 7 percent of STEM bachelor’s degrees as of 2018, the most recent year data is available. This is below their share of all bachelor’s degrees (10 percent) or their share of the adult population (12 percent). Black adults are also underrepresented among those earning advanced degrees in STEM.
New data from the National Science Foundation show that in pre-pandemic America enrollments in graduate programs in science, engineering, and health fields at U.S. academic institutions were increasing. The increase in Black enrollments in these disciplines increased faster than the rate for enrollments as a whole.
In 2019 there were 2,512 African Americans who earned doctorates. They made up 7.1 percent of all doctorates awarded to U.S. citizens or permanent residents in the U.S. But there are many fields where Blacks earned only a tiny percentage of all doctorates. For example, African Americans earned only one percent of physics doctorates.
The study by researchers at the University of Illinois found when students of color in STEM majors felt excluded, invisible, or isolated on their college campus because of their race, sometimes combined with discouraging experiences in academic settings, they were less likely to continue in STEM.
The alliance will provide underrepresented minority doctoral and postdoctoral students training opportunities to learn and network at partner institutions, conduct research exchange visits, and access resources for placement into faculty positions.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded 14 planning grants to Minority Serving Institutions through its Minority University Research and Education Project, part of the agency’s Office of STEM Engagement. Four of the grant recipients are historically Black universities.
Namandjé Bumpus was appointed chair of the department of pharmacology and molecular sciences. She is the first African American woman to chair an academic department at the medical school and the only African American woman currently chairing a pharmacology department at any medical school in the nation.
The National Math and Science Initiative has received a planning grant from the Fund II Foundation to design UTeach STEM teacher preparation programs at up to 15 historically Black colleges and universities in six states and the District of Columbia.
Two seniors have formed Underrepresented Minorities in Computing at Cornell, a club that seeks to support and inspire students of color in computer and information science. Faculty have received grants to offer a four-week summer program to rising sophomores in computer science.
According to the report from the American Institute of Physics, “The persistent underrepresentation of African Americans in physics and astronomy is due to the lack of a supportive environment for these students in many departments, and the enormous financial challenges facing them.”
The City University of New York has announced the creation of an emerging technology mentorship program that targets 250 small businesses owned by veterans, minorities, and women throughout New York City.
This new program makes Xavier one of four colleges in Louisiana, one of two in New Orleans, and one of only three historically Black colleges and universities in the nation to offer a physician assistant program. Xavier University now offers 12 master’s degree programs.
The new program includes a summer bridge program and a first-year science seminar that introduces students to neuroscience. The program also provides paid research opportunities, making it possible for students to conduct research in lieu of a paid job off-campus.
About half of all Millennium Scholars at Penn State have gone on to be accepted in doctoral degree programs in STEM fields. The first two are expected to receive their Ph.D.s this coming spring.
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded $23.2 million to minority-serving institutions as part of the fiscal year 2019 Department of Defense Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions Research and Education Program.
The U.S. Department of Education estimates that just 2 percent of teachers are Black men. A new initiative at Georgia State University is seeking to encourage more Black men to become teachers in STEM disciplines.
According to the American Society for Engineering Education, a nonprofit dedicated to engineering education, the seven Black women faculty members in engineering are the most among the 338 four-year degree-granting engineering schools in the United States.
A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Kalisa Villafana decided at the age of 12 that she would be a physicist.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has partnered with the American Chemical Society to train more students from underrepresented groups in chemical research. The goal is to increase the number of these students in chemistry doctoral programs.
Liselle Joseph was awarded a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. She is the first woman from an Eastern Caribbean nation to earn a Ph.D. in the field.
The Meyerhoff Scholars program is recognized as one of the most effective models in the country to help inspire, recruit, and retain underrepresented students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM disciplines.
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of South Africa have signed a memorandum of understanding that will establish a framework for future research, faculty, and student exchanges between the two universities.
Since 2004, tenured-track appointments at Harvard University are up 54 percent for underrepresented minorities, which is particularly striking since the overall number of tenure-track faculty has decreased by 18 percent over the same time period.
This is the first agreement reached between the Trump administration and a college to forgo using race as a factor in the admissions process.
According to the research, Black women earn only 2.9 percent of all STEM bachelor’s degrees in the United States. This is far below the rate of White women, despite the fact that White women and Black women are equally likely to express an interest in STEM fields at the beginning of their college careers.
The University of Alabama Birmingham School of Nursing has partnered with the World-Health Organization Collaborating Center at the University of West Indies-Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica, to improve how they train nursing students by using simulators.
According to an analysis of the new membership list by JBHE, there are six Black scholars among the 86 new members of the National Academy of Engineering. Thus, Blacks make up 7 percent of the new members. A year ago, there were three African Americans among the 83 new members of the Academy.
Under the agreement, University of Minnesota faculty members and graduate students will travel to Africa to serve as lecturers and to mentor students. Officials hope that the new partnership will funnel African students to graduate programs in mathematics at the University of Minnesota.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the Illinois Institute of Technology have partnered with the Oakland-based Kapor Center to launch the Illinois SMASH Academy, a 5-week, all-expenses paid STEM summer camp for high school students from underrepresented groups.
In 2018, the Association of American Medical Colleges cited the City University of New York School of Medicine as the fifth top medical school in the country for recruitment of Black and African-American students, exceeded only by the four historically Black medical schools.
The new publication will be an open access journal that provides quality peer-reviewed articles written by academic and professionals in the fields of aviation, nuclear technology, cybersecurity, and information technology. The articles will provide technical and soft-skills information aimed at helping women, African Americans and professionals from other underrepresented groups succeed in these fields.
The study found that 82 percent of the deans at the nation’s 300 or more accredited engineering schools are men and 74 percent are White. For faculty, only 2.3 percent of all faculty at accredited schools of engineering are Black.
The African nation of Rwanda has a population of more than 12 million. Yet there are only 40 registered dentists in the country. A new program established with the assistance of scholars at Harvard University and the University of Maryland aims to help reduce the shortage.
Bianca Marlin is a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at Columbia University in New York City and Elizabeth Ransey is postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
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