[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2578 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2578

    To increase the participation of historically underrepresented 
demographic groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
                        education and industry.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 26, 2019

  Ms. Hirono (for herself, Mr. Brown, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. 
  Gillibrand, Ms. Klobuchar, and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To increase the participation of historically underrepresented 
demographic groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
                        education and industry.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Women and Minorities in STEM Booster 
Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN AND 
              UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN STEM FIELDS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the National Academy of Sciences, STEM 
        education at the undergraduate level is vital to developing a 
        workforce that will allow the United States to remain the 
        leader in the 21st century global economy.
            (2) According to a recent American Community Survey Report 
        on disparities in STEM employment conducted in 2013, women 
        comprise about half of the United States workforce but only 
        make up 26 percent of STEM workers.
            (3) According to the National Science Foundation, women 
        only represent 28 percent of all science and engineering 
        workers, comprising 29 percent of physical scientists, 25 
        percent of computer and mathematical scientists, and 13 percent 
        of engineers.
            (4) According to the National Center of Education 
        Statistics (NCES), women were more likely than men to switch 
        out of STEM majors--32 percent compared to 26 percent.
            (5) Additionally, NCES found that while a higher percentage 
        of bachelor's degrees were awarded to females than to males in 
        2016, (58 percent compared to 42 percent), within STEM fields a 
        lower percentage of bachelor's degrees were awarded to females 
        than to males (36 percent compared to 64 percent).
            (6) According to the 2010 Association of American 
        University Women report ``Why So Few?'' approximately 52 
        percent of women in STEM fields quit their jobs about 10 years 
        into their careers. It is important for gender equality to 
        increase the retention of women in STEM fields, as women in 
        STEM careers earn 33 percent more than those in non-STEM jobs, 
        and have a smaller wage gap relative to men.
            (7) According to recent Census Bureau projections, 
        minorities will account for 57 percent of the United States 
        population by 2060.
            (8) According to the National Action Council for Minorities 
        in Engineering, Inc., as the United States works to remain 
        competitive in the world of technological innovation, the 
        United States should address the need to increase the number of 
        individuals from underrepresented minority segments of the 
        population who work in engineering.
            (9) The Higher Education Research Institute at the 
        University of California, Los Angeles, found that, while 
        freshmen from underrepresented minority groups express an 
        interest in pursuing a STEM undergraduate degree at the same 
        rate as all other freshmen, only 22 percent of Latino students, 
        18 percent of African-American students, and 19 percent of 
        Native American students studying in STEM fields complete their 
        degree within 5 years, compared to around 33 percent and 42 
        percent 5-year completion rates for White and Asian students, 
        respectively.
            (10) According to the 2015 Asian Americans Advancing 
        Justice report ``Making America Work'', data on Asian Americans 
        and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) on average hide the fact that 
        some subgroups are underrepresented in STEM fields, with only 9 
        percent of Cambodian, 8 percent of Laotian, 8 percent of Hmong, 
        and 7 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander workers 
        hold STEM jobs, compared to 12 percent of the total American 
        population holding STEM jobs.
            (11) According to 3-year estimates from the 2013 American 
        Community Survey, Southeast Asian Americans and Pacific 
        Islanders have higher poverty rates and lower educational 
        attainment rates compared to the overall population.
            (12) Additionally, while 15 percent of the overall 
        population lives below the Federal poverty level, several 
        minority populations have significantly higher poverty rates 
        including 20 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, 
        21 percent of Cambodian, 28 percent of Hmong, 17 percent of 
        Laotian, and 33 percent of Bhutanese Americans. Compared to 30 
        percent of the overall population with a bachelor's degree or 
        higher, less than 20 percent of Pacific Islanders, Cambodians, 
        Hmongs, Laotians, and Bhutanese had a bachelor's degree or 
        higher at rates of 15 percent, 18 percent, 17 percent, 16 
        percent, and 9 percent, respectively. Levels of poverty and 
        postsecondary educational attainment correlate with these 
        groups' underrepresentation in STEM employment. Other Asian 
        American and Pacific Islander subgroups with similar poverty 
        and educational attainment rates are similarly underrepresented 
        in STEM employment.
            (13) A 2014 National Center for Education Statistics study 
        found that women and underrepresented minorities leave the STEM 
        fields at higher rates than their counterparts, leading to a 
        need to develop resources to retain these groups in the STEM 
        fields.
    (b) Program Authorized.--The Director of the National Science 
Foundation shall award grants to eligible entities, on a competitive 
basis, to enable such eligible entities to carry out the activities 
described in subsection (d), in order to increase the participation of 
women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics.
    (c) Application.--Each eligible entity that desires to receive a 
grant under this section shall submit an application to the National 
Science Foundation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Director of the National Science Foundation may 
reasonably require.
    (d) Authorized Activities.--An eligible entity that receives a 
grant under this section shall use such grant funds to carry out one or 
more of the following activities designed to increase the participation 
of women or minorities underrepresented in science and engineering, or 
both:
            (1) Online workshops.
            (2) Mentoring programs that partner science, technology, 
        engineering, or mathematics professionals with students.
            (3) Internships for undergraduate and graduate students in 
        the fields of science, technology, engineering, and 
        mathematics.
            (4) Conducting outreach programs that provide elementary 
        school and secondary school students with opportunities to 
        increase their exposure to the fields of science, technology, 
        engineering, or mathematics.
            (5) Programs to increase the recruitment and retention of 
        underrepresented faculty.
            (6) Such additional programs as the Director of the 
        National Science Foundation may determine.
    (e) Definitions.--In this Act--
            (1) the term ``minority'' means American Indian, Alaskan 
        Native, Black (not of Hispanic origin), Hispanic (including 
        persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central or South 
        American origin), Asian (including underrepresented subgroups), 
        Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander origin subgroup, or other 
        ethnic group underrepresented in science and engineering; and
            (2) the term ``underrepresented in science and 
        engineering'' means a minority group whose number of scientists 
        and engineers per 10,000 population of that group is 
        substantially below the comparable figure for scientists and 
        engineers who are White and not of Hispanic origin, as 
        determined by the Secretary of Education under section 637.4(b) 
        of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
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