Literature Review Blog Post #2

The article used for this literature review is called, The Policy of STEM Diversity: Diversifying STEM Programs in Higher Education. 

1) Picture- 


2) Citation- 

Briggs, C. (2017). THE POLICY OF STEM DIVERSITY: Diversifying STEM Programs in Higher Education. Journal of STEM Education, 17(4),. Laboratory for Innovative Technology in Engineering Education (LITEE). Retrieved February 28, 2020 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/174403/.

3) Brief Summary-

The article focuses on two main aspects on minorities in STEM. First of all, it talks about why minorities are necessary in STEM, and how to get more of them invloved. The American economy needs to be able to diversify its STEM field if it is able to survive. The current people in STEM are aging and it is time for the next generation. The American minority population is the highest growing population in the country, and in order to keep up with other countries, America must be able to tap into this minority population. This is being done through programs such as CEOSE, landmark court decisions, and new laws being created.

4) About the Author-

Calvin Briggs has a PhD in mathematics and teaches at Lawson State Community College. He is also the STEM Director for two federally funded STEM grants. Dr. Briggs works tirelessly to diversify STEM, which explains why he is the site coordinator Georgia-Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation programs.

5) Key Terms-

"Human resources" is defined as the personnel of a field, especially when regarded as a major asset.

"Problem Solving in technology-rich environments" is one of the criteria during a study by the PIACC. They found that America did not even rank in the top 20 in this because of minorities in other countries have a higher STEM literacy than minorities in America.

6) Quotes-

"the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1, 127 S.Ct. 2738 (2007) found that there was no “compelling government interest” and the admission policy governed by a racial quota was not “narrowly tailored” to the interest of diversity (2007)" (Briggs).

"UC Berkley had an academic desire to diversify its student body and a legal desire to circumvent future litigation" (Briggs).

"In the final analysis, if the United States is to survive as a dominating economic, technological, and military force within the world, it must make a significant investment within its own human resources" (Briggs).

7) Value-

This article provides statistics that was not found in other sources, and also seemed more in depth. For example, instead of just saying programs are implemented to fight for STEM diversity, Briggs says, "In addition, 34 percent of HBCU-UP alumni completed graduate degrees, 13.5 percent higher than African American students nationally (20.5 percent)" (Briggs). This type of data actually provides insight on how to diversify STEM.