[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S1596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. 
        Heinrich, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. 
        Brown):
  S. 2710. A bill to increase the participation of historically 
underrepresented demographic groups in science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics education and industry; to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, March is Women's History Month. So this 
morning I would like to highlight the progress women have made in the 
fields of science, technology, engineering, and math--or the STEM 
fields--challenges that persist, and legislation that I will be 
introducing to help overcome these challenges.
  Today we rely on computers for much of our modern life. For that, we 
thank pioneer RDML Grace Hopper, who was one of the first computer 
programmers. Space travel is one of the most technologically 
challenging endeavors that humankind has undertaken. The road to 
becoming an astronaut requires intelligence and toughness, not to 
mention fortitude. Astronauts like Sally Ride, the first American woman 
in space, have shown that women belong in every endeavor.
  Hawaii is home to women leaders in STEM fields. Dr. Isabella Aiona 
Abbott was raised in rural Hana on the island of Maui. She became the 
first Native Hawaiian woman to receive a Ph.D. in science and went on 
to discover over 200 species of algae. She remains a leading expert on 
Pacific algae. These women persevered and rose to great heights of 
success in the STEM fields. However, we must do better to make sure 
that many more women have the opportunity to pursue STEM careers. While 
girls and boys express a similar level of interest in STEM at an early 
age, studies have found that women start to lose interest in STEM as 
early as in middle school. This loss of women and minorities continues 
at nearly every stage of the STEM career trajectory. For example, women 
are more likely to switch from a STEM to non-STEM major in their first 
year of college than their male counterparts.
  Girls and women report many reasons for losing interest in STEM. 
These include negative stereotypes about women in STEM, perceived 
gender barriers, feelings of isolation, and a lack of female role 
models and mentors. Gender bias and institutional barriers still slow 
the advancement of girls and women. Research shows that issues of bias 
can hinder interest in STEM, influence academic performance, and 
influence whether faculty encourages female students to pursue STEM 
careers. Furthermore, bias--whether conscious or unconscious--can harm 
the hiring, promotion, and career advancement of women in STEM. Bias 
can even hurt female researchers' chances of winning competitive 
science grants. Approximately half of the U.S. population and workforce 
is made up of women. But women make up just over a quarter of the STEM 
workforce.
  As our economy becomes more global, our entire population--men and 
women--must be engaged in fields that will keep America competitive on 
the world stage. Expanding the number of women and minorities in STEM 
fields is essential to meeting that challenge. The importance of 
growing the U.S. STEM workforce is acknowledged by leaders and 
businesses in all fields at all levels. For example, this recognition 
was very evident in the Senate's immigration reform debate. When I 
served on the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2013, increasing our STEM 
workforce through immigration policy drove major sections of the 
bipartisan immigration reform bill passed by the Senate.
  In Hawaii and elsewhere, there are programs that expose students to 
STEM careers through mentoring and interactive activities such as 
robotics. I want to focus on one school in Hawaii that created these 
opportunities for their students--Molokai Middle School. This is a 
school that struggled with science and math scores, but when their 
teachers established a robotics programs, students from all backgrounds 
got interested in science. The year the program started, the Molokai 
Middle School robotics team overcame all odds to represent Hawaii in a 
national robotics tournament. This year, they will compete in an 
international robotics competition in Kentucky. Molokai is an island of 
only about 7,000 people. Their students have thrived and succeeded 
through their STEM experience. While programs like these have a 
positive impact on encouraging students to stay excited about STEM 
fields, there are not enough of such programs.
  That is why today I am proud to be joined by Senators Gillibrand, 
Murray, Feinstein, Heinrich, Baldwin, Stabenow, and Brown to introduce 
the Women and Minorities in STEM Booster ACT to improve the 
recruitment, retention, and success of women and minorities at all 
stages of the STEM pipeline. This bill authorizes the National Science 
Foundation to award competitive grants for outreach, mentoring, and 
professional development programs.
  The STEM booster act also authorizes funding for STEM education 
outreach programs at the elementary and secondary school levels, 
funding for mentoring programs, and programs to increase the 
recruitment and retention of women and minority faculty.
  I am also working on another bill to address some of the cultural and 
institutional barriers that I mentioned today, which impede women's and 
minorities' advancement in STEM fields. In addition to increasing 
mentoring and outreach programs, the second bill will improve guidance, 
training, and coordination among Federal STEM agencies and universities 
to proactively combat bias and discrimination.
  We are on the right track to grow our STEM workforce in the United 
States, but we still need to move forward faster. We must act now to 
speed this process. My bill will help expose more girls, women, and 
minorities to opportunities in STEM fields and accelerate their 
participation.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting women and minorities in 
STEM now.
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