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1
INTRODUCTION
This report has been developed to
respond to a request from the National
Aeronautics and Space
(NASA) to design a National Scholars
Program to increase the number of
underparticipating minorities earning Ph.D.s
in mathematics, the physical sciences, and
engineering. The distinctive characteristics of
the proposed program are (~) a continuum of
academic and financial support for
participants beginning in high school and
continuing through Ph.D. study, and (2)
coordination with other science education
initiatives funded by NASA and/or other
agencies, organizations? and institutions.
This report provides data on the need
for such a program and offers an overview of
the recommended program design. A detailed
discussion of program design can be found in
The National Scholars Program: Excellence
with Diversityfor the Future MARC 1996a).
We recommend that NASA implement
a National Scholars Program because the
proposed program is well suited to NASA's
mission, specific interests, and capabilities.
However,
· ~
Administration
such a program could be
implemented by others, as well' because the
principles underlying the program are
applicable to a range of settings and sponsors.
The organizational structure is intended to be
flexible in order to build on and collaborate
with existing initiatives that already have an
infrastructure and some elements of the
proposed program. We view the National
Scholars Program as a mechanism for NASA
and other institutions or organizations to
contribute to ~ hrnad-ha.ser1 effort that they
~ J ~
acting alone, could not otherwise mount.
BACKGROUND
NASA's education mission gives high
priority to diversifying the science and
engineering work force. In its Strategic Plan
for Education ~ASA 1992, 43), NASA
outlined four management priorities to guide
change. The third "ttio identify, articulate,
and employ an integrated agency strategy to
significantly increase ethnic and gender
diversity in the science and technology
pipeline" was bolstered by the 1993 Report
of the University Relations Task Force of the
NASA Advisory Council, established to
review the NASA-university relationship.
The task force recommended
that greater participation of women
en c! minorities representts] an explicit, top
priority in the evolution of the NASA-
university relationship? and that greater
emphasis be placed on joint NASA-
university programs specifically directed
Additional resources
will be required to support these programs
since the proportion of women and
- -a r -c~-
towarcl this coal.
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minorities in the working-age population
continues to increase (p. 5~.
There is also a broader policy context
reflected in NASA's education priorities,
namely the objectives of the National
Education Goals to eliminate "the gap in
high school graduation rates between
American students from minority
backgrounds and their non-minority
counterparts" ant! to increase significantly
"[tithe number of U.S. undergraduate and
graduate students' especially women and
minorities, who complete degrees in
mathematics, science, and engineering"
(National Education Goals Pane] 1993' x-xi).
The concept of a National Scholars
Program was developed in response to
wiclespread recognition that, despite the many
nationwide programs for minorities created in
the past two decades, there has been little
increase in the representation of minorities in
science and engineering at the doctoral level.
In 1987 and 1989 the Atlanta University
Center hosted two NASA-sponsored con
ferences/workshops at which experts in the
fields of education, science, and engineering
developed a conceptual framework and design
for a National Scholars Program. The goal of
the program was to quadruple the number of
underrepresented rn~norities earning Ph.D.s
each year in science, engineering, and
technology by the year 2002. Conference
participants noted that, although laudable
individual programs had focused on the
problem for some time, their collective impact
had been minimal. Among the chief reasons
for this disappointing progress were the lack
of a long-term' coordinated strategy and
inadequate itnding for a very fragmented
·
plpe line.
A National Scholars Program would
develop a comprehensive program of
academic enrichment and financial support for
students that would begin in high school and
continue through doctoral study. This would
be accomplished by a coordinated national
strategy to harness the resources of individual
programs? agencies, organizations, and the
private sector in support of a common goal.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
scholars program
