Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is announcing a historic slate of bold actions across the U.S. government and businesses, civic, academic, nonprofit, community-based, and philanthropic organizations to advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s STEMM Equity and Excellence priorities. These commitments activate a national vision and drive transformative change across the American science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) ecosystem by dramatically expanding access and opportunities and bolstering America’s global competitiveness.

Today’s STEMM ecosystem is inequitable by nearly every measure, shutting out and diverting away too many talented individuals, closing off opportunities for discovery and innovation, and limiting our national potential. America is at an inflection point: As historic science and technology legislative achievements drive progress on critical national priorities, including clean energy, quantum, semiconductors, and space, the U.S. must seize the opportunity to ensure that all communities benefit from these transformative investments. To meet President Biden’s Day 1 call to advance equity for people who have been historically underserved and leverage this once-in-a-generation opportunity to power a more just, inclusive, and competitive science and technology ecosystem, now is the time for the U.S. to take bold concerted action across STEMM sectors.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), have launched the STEMM Opportunity Alliance (SOA), a first-of-its-kind national initiative to lead and coordinate this and future cross-sector action to sustain American global leadership by achieving equity across STEMM fields. More than $4 million has been committed to date to launch SOA; these pledges will serve as a force multiplier for the major strategic actions to expand STEMM opportunity being driven by departments and agencies across the U.S. government.

The following highlighted actions are among the commitments announced today. A full list of SOA funders, partners, and private commitments is available here.

Actions to provide holistic and lifelong support for learners, teachers, workers and communities to participate in and contribute to science and technology

By the Federal government:

  • The National Science Foundation’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Technology (S-STEM) program seeks to increase the number of low-income students who graduate from four-year universities with a STEMM degree and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEMM knowledge by providing scholarships for low-income students with academic talent or potential in advanced semiconductor design and manufacturing. The program—which has invested in over 100,000 students across the United States—and supports evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities that have been shown to be effective in supporting student recruitment, retention, transfer, and graduation.
  • The National Science Foundation launched Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT), a new $30 million workforce development program to expand access to career-enhancing experiential learning opportunities for a broader, more diverse population, including adult learners from historically excluded communities interested in entering or gaining more experience in emerging and critical areas, including advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum information science, and semiconductors and microelectronics. With awards of up to $1 million over three years, the program promotes partnerships between organizations in emerging technology fields and those with expertise in workforce development in regions nationwide.
  • The National Science Foundation announced 22 new awards through its NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program to support people pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs in developing the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEMM careers. This program supports new and innovative interdisciplinary or convergence approaches, curricula developments, and instructional materials that prepare graduate students for national STEMM priority areas. The $58 million investment, including $6.9 million of support from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, focuses on supporting researchers pursuing in artificial intelligence and quantum information science and engineering.
  • The National Science Foundation launched the Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) to annually support hundreds of thousands of graduate students training in semiconductor and microelectronics research and development. With a special focus on students from communities historically excluded from STEMM fields, the INTERN program invests in supplemental funding requests for up to an additional six months of graduate student support on active NSF grants, providing graduate students with opportunities to supplement their academic research with non-academic research internship activities and training opportunities that will complement their academic research training.
  • The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office within the Department of Commerce created the Intellectual Property Skills Work-Based Learning program to provide high school students with opportunities for integrated STEMM learning, intellectual property awareness, invention education, entrepreneurship, and federal service. This paid work-based learning experience seeks to increase employability and development of intellectual property skills among historically excluded communities near the USPTO headquarters and its regional offices with a special focus on building a diverse next-generation workforce by providing job skills training, mentoring, and paid internships to high school youth.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services will award up to $18 million in supplemental funds to grants supporting principal investigators who have demonstrated a commitment to exceptional training and mentorship, especially to individuals from group historically excluded in health-related sciences. The Notice of Special Interest recognizes the crucial role of effective mentorship in developing scientific leaders and a diverse biomedical and behavioral research workforce, supporting 84 principal investigators originating from 23 of the NIH Institutes and Centers in FY 2022.
  • This fall, the U.S. Department of Labor in coordination with the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, and Defense, led the 120-day Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint to promote the creation of Registered Apprenticeships to develop the talents of the Nation’s increasingly diverse workforce to meet severe worker shortages and critical needs in cybersecurity. The Sprint was rooted in the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to expand Registered Apprenticeships, a proven earn-while-you-learn model that aims to build a pipeline of skilled workers with a focus on underserved communities. Apprentices start earning from day one and their wages increase with their skills, with 93 percent of apprentices retaining employment on completion of their apprenticeship. Apprentices are also eligible for wrap-around support services including childcare and transportation.
  • NASA will fund Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II) Community Anchor awards. The Community Anchor awards will allow informal education institutions to strengthen their capacity to serve as a local or regional NASA STEM informal education community resource, and increase access to NASA STEM learning opportunities and materials that address the needs of a diverse set of K-12 youth in local communities or regions, with a special emphasis on those who are new to NASA content and also historically underrepresented and/or underserved in STEMM fields and opportunities.
  • The National Q-12 Education Partnership—spearheaded by OSTP and NSF, supported by industry, non-profits, and federal agencies and laboratories, and facilitated by the academic community—commits over the next decade to work with America’s educators to ensure a strong quantum learning environment, from providing classroom tools for hands-on experiences to developing educational materials, to supporting pathways to quantum careers. By expanding access to materials and quantum technologies through this partnership, educators in classrooms and other settings will be able to develop programs, courses, and activities to introduce students to the field and open up opportunities for quantum careers.
  • The Department of Veteran AffairsEdith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Program provides additional GI Bill benefits toward qualifying STEMM degrees and allow scholarships for those enrolled in dual-secondary degrees and health care professionals completing clinical training to become licensed to practice in a State or locality. The Scholarship allows eligible Veterans and dependents using the Post-9/11 GI Bill or Fry Scholarship to get added benefits. This scholarship provides up to 9 months (or $30,000) of benefits for training in high-demand fields.
  • The Department of Veteran AffairsVeteran Employment through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) 5-year pilot program provides tuition and housing assistance to help Veterans advance in an IT career. Through VET TEC training programs, Veterans acquire high-tech skills to assist them in moving quickly into in-demand jobs in information science, computer software, computer programming, data processing, information science, and media applications. VET TEC training programs typically run from 6 to 28 weeks in length, which allows Veterans to complete training and enter the job market more rapidly than traditional college programs.

By Non-Federal Organizations:

  • Amgen Foundation: The Amgen Foundation has committed $43 million to support LabXchange at Harvard University, a global science classroom that makes high-quality science education accessible to all curious minds, particularly those from underrepresented groups, and gives learners and educators tools to chart meaningful paths in STEMM at no cost. Through free educational content, digital authoring tools, and professional development opportunities, LabXchange empowers teachers to deliver meaningful learning outcomes in equitable teaching environments. Since launching in 2020, over 27 million learners, educators, and STEMM professionals worldwide have engaged with the content library, learning features, and webinars. LabXchange aims to serve 50 million users through its platform by 2025.
  • Vanderbilt University: Vanderbilt University recently launched faculty-led STEMM training and development initiatives across its undergraduate and graduate STEMM programs, which are supported by over $30 million in federal and university investments. These programs are designed to introduce, fund, support and mentor undergraduates into STEMM-related research opportunities and expand their options for graduate and career research. Vanderbilt continues to partner with Fisk University through the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-PhD Bridge Program, which aims to increase the number of underrepresented minority students engaged in PhD-level STEMM research.
  • Merck: Merck, in collaboration with the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP), will launch the Early Talent Training Program (ETTP), which introduces high school and community college students to the clinical research profession. Starting in February 2023, 50 high school and community college students will participate in the first ETTP program. Merck, along with over 50 leading companies, also has committed to OneTen’s mission of hiring, promoting and advancing one million Black Americans who do not have four-year degrees into family-sustaining careers over 10 years.
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI): HHMI will establish a new non-degree-granting post-baccalaureate program for promising college graduates who have demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion in science. Through this program, HHMI will provide 200 individuals who hold bachelor’s degrees with employment and training in HHMI research labs to strengthen their preparedness for and commitment to pursuit of a PhD in the life sciences. As part of this effort, HHMI will establish several new partnerships including with historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges.
  • National University: National University, partnering with the Institute for Learning-Enabled Optimization at Scale (TILOS), will work to develop career-relevant technology courses for adult STEMM learners from historically excluded communities. By 2024, TILOS aims to support 2,000 students in earning badges, credentials, or degrees that lead to gainful employment in STEMM fields. This includes developing new courses that will focus on computing, AI optimization, robotics, networking and chip design, while providing a community outreach element to raise awareness and encourage interest in AI-related careers.
  • Universal Technical Institute (UTI) and the STEM Education Coalition: UTI will hold nine Women in STEM Skilled Trades Conferences in 2023 to continue to advance the work of introducing high school girls and non-binary students to successful women role models in STEMM. UTI will make $100,000 in grants available to cover the expenses to and from these conferences to make them more accessible to interested students.
  • American Institute of Physics: The American Institute of Physics will work with partners to help double the number of African American students earning physics and astronomy bachelor’s degrees annually by 2030, through its program TEAM-UP Together. TEAM-UP is led by the American Institute of Physics, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Astronomical Society, the American Physical Society and the Society of Physics. This initiative provides a scholarship program which offers financial assistance and supportive services and provides funding for physics and astronomy departmental efforts that prioritize and support successful outcomes for African American undergraduates leading to systemic change.
  • Biogen: Biogen will launch the Community Lab 2.0, expanding its first-of-its-kind laboratory classroom program where middle and high school students engage in hands-on biotechnology experiments and interact with scientists and other biotech professionals. Community Lab 2.0 will include an enhanced neuroscience curriculum, a newly founded Community Lab Alumni Network, and increased global reach. To build on its legacy of support for STEMM equity, Biogen is setting a new goal to reach a total of 90,000 students by 2025, with a hyper-focus on underrepresented and underserved students. 
  • Simons Foundation: The Simons Foundation will scale up its investments in STEMM equity initiatives over the next six years, including over $50 million to support the Stony Brook Simons STEM Scholars program, which provides full scholarships to underrepresented students interested in STEMM; $12.5 million to support the recently launched Team-Up Together Initiative at the American Institute of Physics, which provides financial support to African American students in physics and astronomy departments; and $2.5 million to support the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, which supports diverse students who to pursue advanced STEMM degrees.
  • New York Hall of Science (NYSCI): The Partners in STEM Equity program provides opportunities for 1,200 Pre-K through college students from Queens, New York from historically excluded communities to participate in sustained programs of ambitious STEMM learning. This investment leverages the science-themed preschool that NYSCI opened on its Queens campus in fall 2022, in partnership with the NYC Department of Education. Over the next decade, NYSCI is committing to aiming to ensure 80 percent of the young people who participate in its Partners for STEM Equity program pursue STEMM careers.
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): AAAS will expand its SEA (STEMM Equity Achievement) Change initiative, which works with college to build evidence-driven programs, policies, and structures to support equity and excellence in STEMM. AAAS will invest over $1 million to expand the reach of SEA Change to engage Biomedical institutions and a process for STEMM departments, growing the number of SEA Change institutions from 27 to over 100 by 2025. With support from Tiger Global Impact Ventures, AAAS will advance greater LGBTQ access to STEMM , beginning by studying how sexual orientation and gender identity data in colleges and universities can be leveraged to develop resources to foster more supportive and inclusive STEMM pathways for LGBTQ students and scholars.
  • Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF): DDCF will provide key seed investment for the STEMM Opportunity Alliance to support its initial years of work. In 2021, DDCF made a $4.4 million commitment to a $12 million initiative to reduce barriers that may hinder biomedical researchers with family caregiving responsibilities. This investment will be followed by at least $15 million in investment next year as part of its work to reimagine biomedical research for equity.
  • Microsoft: Microsoft will support the diversification of the US cybersecurity workforce by 2025 by equipping 250,000 people, mostly from underrepresented groups, with necessary skills and trainings. Microsoft’s ongoing dedication to this field has resulted in the establishment of 18 partnerships with HBCUs to provide $8 million in funding to expand access to learning pathways and to support the communities where these institutions are located. 
  • Arizona State University (ASU): ASU is leading the state of Arizona’s New Economy Initiative to build expertise in vitally important new economy fields. This effort includes five  Science and Technology Centers to expand impact in key regional technology areas and conduct world-class research through partnerships with industrial organizations and other public and private entities. ASU has diversified the population of students enrolled in STEMM degrees while simultaneously improving student achievement and decreasing equity gaps, increasing enrollment of full-time, first-time freshmen in undergraduate natural science and engineering degrees 3.6-fold from 1,229 to 4,459 students between 2004 to 2020.
  • 3M: As part of its commitment to support 5 million STEMM and Skilled Trades learning experiences for underrepresented individuals by the end of the 2025-26 school year, 3M invest in programs and initiatives that increase awareness of STEMM careers, improve academic outcomes in science and math, and provide scholarships, fellowships and support services for students pursuing STEMM degrees. This includes expanding the reach of its Science Encouragement programs, investing in hands-on learning opportunities for students, and providing scholarships and summer preparation programs for incoming STEMM majors at HBCUs and HSIs.
  • Jobs for the Future: Jobs for the Future(JFF) leads various initiatives across the United States to advance equity in STEMM. With support from Comcast, Capital One and Walmart, JFF has recently launched a new initiative through our Center for Racial Economic Equity to develop and scale targeted services to increase the share of Black learners and workers accessing and completing programs associated with high-growth, high-demand STEMM careers.
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will become a funding partner of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance, while advancing the foundation’s Creating Equitable Pathways to STEM Graduate Education initiative. This initiative supports educational pathways from minority serving institutions (MSIs) to STEMM master’s and doctoral degree programs at universities across the country. Since its 2021 launch, the initiative has awarded more than $10 million in support of pathway activities at over 100 institutions.
  • Morgan State University: Morgan State University, a historically Black research institution, has encouraged thousands of black students to pursue careers in STEMM fields and will continue its work to strengthen its institution to provide greater STEMM opportunity for its students. In 2022, the University launched three new research centers, and intends that the research conducted at the new centers will propel Morgan to the next echelon in Carnegie Classification research rankings. The University will also engage the community residents and officials in the application of understanding and policy analysis derived from faculty and student research.
  • Last Mile Education Fund: The Last Mile Education Fund will build a $60 million investment fund to identify and support 30,000 striving tech and engineering students by 2031, generating $3 billion in earnings for low-income students by 2035. This work is focused on investing in low-income students who are at the precipice of attaining a technical degree. Last Mile’s funding and connections to social support resources enable these students to persist over the last mile to graduation and into a career.
  • Olin College of Engineering: Olin College is developing The Mirror, a center for Pathways to STEM efforts that involve collaboration among local high school students, college students, faculty, and a variety of partners. The center will be located in an urban setting with proximity to both underserved communities and high-tech companies. The College is also engaged in a year-long DEI Champions to engage 10 percent of faculty and staff in a cycle of learning, action, and accountability to bring the tenets and practices of racial equity work to Olin.
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health system are committed to creating an equitable, inclusive, innovative, and anti-racist learning and research community. This includes via the Center for Scientific Diversity which aims to increase the research success and equitable advancement of underrepresented faculty investigators and trainees, and the NIH Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) program which works to transform academic culture to build a self-reinforcing community of scientists committed to diversity and inclusive excellence.
  • Southern Regional Education Board: The Southern Regional Education Board’s postsecondary office will convene groups to study critical issues and identify and recommended policies, practices and programs that will increase student success in higher education, especially for historically underserved populations. This includes practices that can increase the completion of credentials that help students fulfill their goals. To accomplish this, Southern Regional Education Board will create a host of collaborative groups and programs to increase student access, affordability, support, retention, and success across higher education sectors.

Actions to address the STEMM teacher shortage—which disproportionately harms underrepresented students—by recruiting, retaining, and respecting teachers

By the Federal government:

  • The Environmental Protection Agency will award the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) to outstanding kindergarten through grade 12 teachers ,who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context for learning for their students. Up to two teachers from each of EPA’s 10 regions, from different states, who incorporate environmental education in their classrooms and teaching methods will be selected to receive this award.
  • The National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program supports projects that address the critical need for recruiting, preparing, and retaining highly effective K-12 math and science teachers and teacher leaders in high-need school districts, in addition to supporting research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEMM teachers in high-need school districts.
  • The Smithsonian Institution—through the Smithsonian Science Education Center in collaboration with experts from across the country and with funding from the National Science Foundation and private grants—released Building Networks & Enhancing Diversity in the K-12 STEM Teaching Workforce, a guidebook to help State and Local Education Agencies to address the STEMM teacher shortage by attracting, retaining, and promoting K-12 STEMM teachers to ensure a diverse STEMM teacher pipeline. To date, this project has supported 104 school, district, and state education agency teams across the country, over 100,000 STEMM teachers, and over 16.5 million students.
  • The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office within the Department of Commerce has developed new educational resources and activities that support educator upskilling and launched the Master Teacher in Invention Education Program (MTIP) to cultivate a national network of teacher leaders who will empower educators to foster invention and intellectual property education for the next generation of creative thinkers, problem solvers, inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs wherever they may be and across communities.

By Non-Federal Organizations:

  • The Micron Foundation and National Science Foundation (NSF) announce a new, $10 million partnership through which Micron Foundation will invest $5 million to accelerate the preparation, training and retention of new and existing STEM teachers and educators, to advance the overall aim of increasing diversity and equity in the STEM teacher workforce. This includes people of color, women, as well as veterans and those in rural communities. Micron will partner with NSF to identify programs, including the NSF’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, to help increase the number of STEM K-12 teachers who are both interested and prepared to teach individuals of all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds across the nation—including some of the most distressed and under-resourced K-12 contexts. Priority of funds will be used to train new skilled and qualified STEM educators, develop facilitated networks and communities of practices for new and experienced STEM educators, teacher mentors, and teacher leaders; provide necessary classroom resources to cultivate innovation, investigation, and hands-on and virtual experimentation; and to build the capacity of local, state, or regional ecosystems to support STEM and workforce education.   
  • Techbridge Girls: Techbridge Girls will invest $3 million to create equitable extracurricular STEMM learning environments for BIPOC girls who experience economic insecurity. The STEMM Equity Learning Community intensive training program, which will equip 250 managers, administrators, teachers, and site directors of out-of-school-time (OST) programs to foster more equitable learning spaces for 6,000 girls and gender-expansive youth, especially Black, Indigenous, and Latina girls, across the U.S. This program will also help build a national network of OST leaders committed to building equitable STEM learning spaces.
  • National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI): NMSI will expand its New Teacher Academy, an induction program for new Black, Latino, and Indigenous teachers, to serve over 1,300 teachers. NMSI’s New Teacher Academy provides professional development, school-year mentorship, and professional learning communities for early-career STEMM teachers to combat isolation, improve practice, and foster a stronger teacher-identity. Black, Latinx, and Indigenous STEMM teachers will see success faster and stay in the classroom longer—resulting in higher rates of retention, teacher job satisfaction, community connections, and STEMM teacher diversity.
  • National Science Teaching Association (NSTA): NSTA will develop the NSTA Lesson Plan Library with 250 lessons and 24 storylines that help make science accessible to all students. This will include lessons that are culturally relevant for Black, Latino, and Native American students. In addition, NSTA will also complete the initial Pathways to Success program of 250 Professional Learning Units, which are bite-sized, self-paced, asynchronous short courses that educators can use to improve their practice, enrich students’ learning, and increase equitable participation in the classroom.
  • Wellesley College: Wellesley College will leverage a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to provide 100 faculty and staff with change agent training, which will help them identify the barriers that keep first-generation and underrepresented students out of STEMM fields, move away from a “gate-keeping” mentality, and encourage them to create multiple pathways into STEMM majors. Wellesley will also enlist a cohort of HHMI Student Interns, who will work with 10 STEMM departments and programs on curriculum development, major requirements, and faculty hiring.
  • Smithsonian Science Education Center: In collaboration with the Department of Defense, the Smithsonian Institution, through the Smithsonian Science Education Center, recently launched instructional resources along the high-touch to high-tech Technology Spectrum that integrate computational thinking into standards-aligned STEMM lessons (STEM+CT) for grades 3-5. This initiative will upskill educators in 9 rural communities near military bases in 3 states in the Midwest, and will include studying the impact of STEM +CT on 300 low-income students where broadband is limited. These free high-touch to high-tech resources will then be scaled nationally.
  • The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI): The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago will launch the Whole School Science Improvement program, an in-depth professional development initiative to provide teachers, staff, and principals with the knowledge, skills, and tools to transform STEMM learning at their schools. MSI will also launch MakeX to help schools develop and operate their own makerspaces. The Museum is also developing and will launch a new STEAM Neighborhood project to create direct connections among MSI-supported schools, community-based organizations, parks, and libraries to develop hyper-local “micro-ecosystems” around STEAM for youth, families, and educators and impact people from underrepresented communities.

Actions to close the funding gap and support students, researchers, and communities who have been historically excluded from access to key resources

By the Federal government:

  • The Department of Energy launched the Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) program to enable DOE research at institutions historically underrepresented in the office’s research portfolio. In FY 2022, the DOE Office of Science is providing $32 million for training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and is committed to doubling the budget for this initiative in FY 2023. 
  • The Department of Energy through the Office of Science is launching the Funding for Accelerated, Inclusive Research (FAIR) with over $35 million committed in FY 2023 to build research capacity, infrastructure, and expertise at institutions historically excluded in Federal research, including minority serving institutions and emerging research institutions.
  • The National Science Foundation launched a $10 million partnership with Micron Technology, Inc. to expand its Advanced Technological Program focused on developing potentially transformative solutions to address semiconductor manufacturing challenges and workforce shortages. NSF and Micron will each invest $5 million in support of research, education, curriculum development, infrastructure capacity building, and workforce development for semiconductor design and manufacturing with a focus on two-year and community colleges. This program invests in nearly 40,000 students and 9,000 teachers annually and establishes partnerships between academic institutions, industry, and economic development agencies.
  • The National Science Foundation awarded $21.4 million to its Expanding Capacity in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (ExpandQISE) program to increase research capacity and broaden participation by engaging universities that are historically underrepresented in quantum information science by boosting resources to students and institutions to initiate or expand QIS-related research programs at a diverse pool of institutions, including three historically Black colleges and universities.
  • The Environmental Protection Agency will award approximately 50 percent of its People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) grants to institutions that have not historically received these awards, including Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The P3 program awards research grants to teams of college and university students working to design solutions for a sustainable future. EPA’s 20th Annual P3 grant cycle is currently accepting applications until February 1, 2023.
  • To increase access to training for energy engineering careers, the Department of Energy is expanding the Industrial Assessment Centers program to include community colleges, technical schools, and union training programs. Through this expansion funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, DOE will work with education and training partners across the country to enable students and workers, particularly from underrepresented backgrounds and from disadvantaged communities, to step into existing and emerging pathways to high-quality, clean energy jobs.
  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a second-round, $5.5 million funding opportunity for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to establish Research Centers of Excellence focusing on building science and technology capacity in housing and community development. HUD will advance another funding opportunity in FY 2023 for Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). These centers provide training opportunities for HUD research contractors and grantees from historically underrepresented communities and function as learning labs for Black and Brown students to receive graduate research training in housing, community development, and building science and technology.
  • The National Science Foundation will launch Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity (GRANTED), a whole-of-NSF approach drawing on the collective knowledge, skills, and talent across the nation’s science and engineering enterprise to enable a broader range of institutions to become competitive for funding. The program has requested $50 million in FY23 to address systemic barriers within the nation’s research enterprise by improving research support and service capacity at emerging, developing, and underserved research institutions.
  • The National Science Foundation launched an effort with Intel Corporation to educate and train the nation’s semiconductor manufacturing workforce and advance opportunities for equitable STEMM education, with a focus on underserved communities and institutions. Following the historic passage of the “CHIPS and Science Act,” Intel and NSF will invest $10 million to provide funding to support the development of a high-quality manufacturing workforce at all levels of production and innovation as described in a new Dear Colleague Letter, or DCL.
  • The Small Business Administration launched the 2023 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) to help address disparities for science and technology entrepreneurs. The program facilitates partnerships to strengthen the investment and innovation ecosystem, and incentivize equitable access to resources for entrepreneurs in historically excluded communities. In 2021, SBA funded 84 Growth Accelerator awardees with $50,000 prizes, which have helped almost 4,000 startups submit 800 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer proposals, with 88% reaching their target entrepreneur goal.
  • The Department of Defense awarded up to $55 million to five consortia of organizations supporting STEMM education at community colleges and two-year institutions. With a special focus on students from underserved and underrepresented communities, as well as veterans and their spouses, the five selected consortium represent 44 organizations and institutions and each consortium award is up to $11 million over a six-year period.
  • The National Institute of Food and Agriculture within the U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $25 million in its Meat and Poultry Agricultural Workforce Training initiative, creating workforce development programs to provide a pipeline of well-trained workers to meet the demand for increased independent processing capacity. NIFA will also invest $15 million in workforce development initiatives at Minority-serving Institutions including 1890 Land-grant Universities, as well as Tribal, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian, Insular and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).
  • NASA will establish Data Science Equity, Access and Priority for Research and Education (DEAP) Institutes led by a Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) or Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The DEAP Institutes will be established for data-intensive research in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) science and engineering that can accelerate discovery and innovation in a broad array of SMD research domains.
  • NASA intends to release a solicitation in January 2023 inviting proposals through its Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) from Women’s Colleges and Universities that will address barriers to women seeking, obtaining, and remaining in STEMM degrees and employment by engaging students in authentic learning experiences with NASA’s people, content, and facilities. The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be released as an Appendix to the omnibus Engagement Opportunities in NASA STEM (EONS) – 2023 available on NSPIRES.
  • The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)within the Department of Health and Human Services released a funding announcement for competitive revisions to enhance the diversity of the research workforce by recruiting and supporting students, post doctorates, and eligible investigators from diverse backgrounds, including groups who have been historically excluded in health services research. This opportunity is also available to researchers who are or become disabled and need additional support to accommodate their disability in order to continue to work on the research project.

By Non-Federal Organizations:

  • Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Accelerate Precision Health program will advance genomics research by investing $46 million in funding over the next five years to the nation’s four Historically Black Medical Colleges (HBMCs) — Charles Drew University College of Medicine; Howard University College of Medicine; Meharry Medical College; and Morehouse School of Medicine. The partnership will help accelerate precision health for everyone, particularly Black people and other people of color. Through the partnership, the HBMCs will expand research opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students, and support the creation of a new Master of Science program in Genetic Counseling.
  • Novartis: Novartis is expanding its Beacon of Hope initiative, launched last year, from $33.7 million to $50 million in planned grantmaking. The initiative is a 10-year collaboration with Morehouse School of Medicine, 26 other historically black colleges and universities, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Coursera and the National Medical Association. The effort includes scholarships to 120 STEMM students each year, grants to faculty, and support for centers of excellence dedicated to improving diversity in clinical trials, eliminating racial bias in clinical data standards and algorithms, and to climate change and disproportionate health impacts.
  • Biogen Foundation:  The Biogen Foundation has invested $10 million over 4-years for its STAR (Science, Teacher support, Access & Readiness) Initiative as a catalyst to encourage collaborative contributions from other corporate partners. The Foundation will invest another $3.5 million over 2-years to continue to build a STEMM equity ecosystem. The initiative addresses educational inequities by bringing together six high-performing nonprofits and two school districts in a coordinated network to serve students grades 6-14 who have been historically underrepresented in STEMM college and career pathways, including students of color, economically disadvantaged students and English language learners. STAR will enable grantee organizations to increase and deepen their capacity to help these students develop and sustain their interest in STEMM, gain necessary STEMM exposure and enrichment opportunities, and successfully transition into postsecondary education in pursuit of STEMM careers.
  • STEM Next Opportunity Fund: By 2025, STEM Next Opportunity Fund will commit more than $15 million to support increasing access to high-quality out-of-school STEMM learning to ensure that more young people – especially girls, young people of color, and young people growing up in poverty – have access to the STEMM experiences they want and deserve. Out-of-school STEMM learning is a powerful tool to support a sense of belonging for young people in STEMM.
  • Burroughs Wellcome Fund: The Burroughs Wellcome Fund will become a funding partner of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance, and over the next five years will invest an additional $19 million in grant awards that span across its diversity in STEMM programming. This will include scaling up its investment in its Postdoctoral Diversity Enrichment Program (PDEP), which aims to increase the number of underrepresented scientists within the biomedical and medical research and education community through career enrichment and mentoring support. Through PDEP, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund has made $9 million in grant awards to more than 140 underrepresented minority scientists with 70 percent of the awardees moving into academic faculty positions at the end of their postdoctoral fellowship.
  • Johns Hopkins University (JHU): Johns Hopkins University (JHU) is launching the new Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative (VTSI), a $150 million effort supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies devoted to addressing historical underrepresentation in STEMM. The initiative seeks to strengthen pathways for students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to achieve PhDs in STEMM fields by providing permanent funding directed at nurturing, mentoring, and connecting talent to graduate education. The VTSI will expand research-intensive summer undergraduate and post-baccalaureate program experiences in STEMM for students from HBCU and MSI institutions and add a cohort of approximately 100 PhD students in JHU’s more than 30 STEMM programs.
  • Heising-Simons Foundation: The Heising-Simons Foundation will become a funding partner of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance, and anticipates spending roughly $7 million a year on STEMM equity initiatives over the next six years, totaling $42 million by 2028. In 2023, this will include committing $7 million to programs that seek to broaden participation of and support underrepresented groups in physics and astronomy. The foundation will also fund efforts to increase scientific excellence by forming a professional network of students, postdoctoral researchers, and professors from four different institutions and diverse areas of expertise.

Actions to root out systemic bias, inaccessibility, discrimination, and harassment in the classroom, laboratory, and workplace

By the Federal government:

  • The Department of Education launched the Raise the Bar: STEM Excellence for All Students initiative to strengthen STEMM education nationwide. This new Biden-Harris Administration initiative will help implement and scale equitable, high-quality STEMM education for all students from PreK to higher education—regardless of background—to ensure their 21st century career readiness and global competitiveness. With the support of $120 billion dollars dedicated to K-12 education in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and all other federal education funds, the Department is galvanizing the broader education ecosystem to ensure all students from PreK to higher education excel STEMM learning, develop and support our STEMM educators to join, grow, and stay in the STEMM field, and invest in STEMM education strategically and sufficiently using ARP and other federal, state, and local funds.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services will launch a Prize Competition for Institutional Excellence in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). The Prize aims to acknowledge transformative cultures, systems, projects, and processes that institutions of higher education have developed to achieve inclusive excellence and to highlight practices that have resulted in measurable change and created a more inclusive environment for students and faculty.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services is committing $58 million over five years, pending availability of funds, for  Transformative Research to Address Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity . The initiative is supporting innovative, translational research projects to prevent, reduce, or eliminate health disparities and advance health equity. Additionally, this initiative is expected to increase the competitiveness of investigators and expand the research base dedicated to health disparities research at minority serving institutions.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services is committing up to $24 million in the next three years and up to $60 million over five years to support transformative research to address health disparities and advance health equity through the UNITE initiative. The program aims to identify and address structural racism within the biomedical research enterprise, as well as bolster the efforts of the NIH offices involved in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services NIH has updated its anti-harassment privacy notice and anti-harassment reporting portal to include racial discrimination as a specific concern that NIH grantee institutions can report to the NIH.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services is boosting observational research to understand the role of structural racism and discrimination in causing and sustaining health disparities, and intervention research in order to improve minority health or reduce health disparities, with up to $30.8 million committed from 25 NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services recently launched Community Partnerships to Advance Science and Society (ComPASS), an approximately $153 million program over a 5-year period to develop, share, and evaluate community-led health equity structural interventions that leverage partnerships across multiple sectors to reduce health disparities and develop a new health equity research model for community-led, multisectoral structural intervention research across NIH and other federal agencies.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services has established processes for handling allegations of sexual harassment at NIH-funded institutions and established a dedicated phone line and web form for reporting. NIH also implemented a general provision that requires NIH-funded institutions to report to the NIH when individuals identified as principal investigator or as key personnel in an NIH notice of award are removed from their position or are otherwise disciplined due to concerns about harassment, bullying, retaliation, or hostile working conditions.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services requires plans to enhance and strengthen diversity in applications seeking funding for scientific conferences and meetings and requires conference organizers to describe strategies that communicate “safety plans” to attendees, to describe how they will document allegations and resulting actions, and to describe information on steps to ensure a safe and respectful environment. 
  • Beginning in January 2023, the National Science Foundation will require those proposing off-site research projects to certify that the off-site organization to address abusive and unwelcome behavior that may arise, as well as identify the steps the proposing organization will take to nurture an inclusive off-campus or off-site working environment.
  • The Smithsonian Institution—through the Smithsonian Science Education Center in collaboration with experts across the nation with support from private industry—convenes school, school district, and state education agency leaders to promote Universal Design for Learning in K-12 STEMM classrooms to ensure all students along the continuum of human ability have access to STEMM opportunities. This initiative provides training for K-12 STEMM educators, identifies teacher leaders, and convenes education teams to create action plans for an accessible and inclusive school-wide culture that supports students with disabilities in STEMM.

By Non-Federal Organizations:

  • Tiger Global Impact Ventures: Tiger Global Impact Ventures (TGIV), through its recently launched Gender Equity in Tech Fund (T-GET), will invest $50 million to support nonprofit organizations that are changing the STEMM ecosystem by increasing access, inclusion, representation and parity.
  • Kapor Center: The Kapor Center is launching three new initiatives to expand diversity in the technology ecosystem. The Equitable Tech Policy initiative calls for expanded access to tech pathways, increased tech accountability and worker protections, and greater investment in infrastructure and innovation across nine core technology policy areas. The Equitable Tech Apprenticeship Toolkit provides actionable guidance for tech companies to develop racially and educationally equitable standards in apprenticeships for high-paying career paths. In partnership with the NAACP, the recently-released Black Tech Ecosystem report highlights the lack of progress in closing racial equity gaps and identifies a set of solutions to close racial equity gaps, increase Black representation, inclusion, and retention across the technology ecosystem.
  • The Societies Consortium on Sexual Harassment in STEMM: The Consortium will prioritize work in several areas focused on producing model policies, guidance, and operational tools to guide STEMM professional societies as they seek to advance ecosystem-wide equity, diversity, and inclusion, and eliminate sexual, gender and intersecting racial harassment. As part of this work, the Consortium will focus on developing case studies, an ethical transparency tool, and other resources on the policies and actions needed to prevent and respond to harassment.

Actions to promote a culture and systems of accountability across the science and technology ecosystem

By the Federal government:

  • The Department of Defense launched the DoD STEM Impact initiative which provides detailed participation rates of underserved and unrepresented populations in Department STEMM programs, advancing new transparency tools to make key data and evaluation metrics of STEMM impact available to the public.
  • The Department of Energy will launch a new website, DOE STEM, to increase awareness and improve access to DOE-sponsored STEMM training and educational opportunities and resources. Through this website, for the first time, all of DOE’s sponsored STEMM training programs, resources, and announcements are available on a single searchable site. 
  • To promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility across all research projects, the Department of Energy Office of Science has launched a requirement for the inclusion of Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plans with all research applications submitted to the office beginning in FY 2023. PIER Plans should describe the activities and strategies applicants will incorporate to promote DEIA within the project personnel, and the research environment.
  • The National Science Foundation launched the NSF by the Numbers a new tool that provides funding information demonstrating how NSF is advancing science and engineering research in the U.S. The dashboard provides information regarding trends in funding for proposals evaluated, awards funded, funding rates, institutions funded, and award obligations by fiscal year. These data can be further filtered by states and EPSCoR jurisdictions, types of institution, and NSF directorate.
  • The National Science Foundation has taken action to broaden participation in budget requests through efforts including in capacity building, research centers, partnerships, and alliances to the use of co-funding or supplements to existing awards in the core research programs. Each year, NSF provides two documents that demonstrate its funding of broadening participation activities: the NSF Programs to Broaden Participation Budget Summary Table and the NSF Report to Congress on Annual Funding to Minority-Serving Institutions.
  • The National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services is enhancing the transparency and reporting of NIH grantee demographics in the NIH Databook, which provides basic summary statistics on extramural grants and contract awards, grant applications, the organizations that NIH supports, the trainees and fellows supported through NIH programs, and the national biomedical workforce.
  • NASA is implementing the NASA STEM Gateway, an agency-wide activity registration/application and data management system which will enhance NASA’s capacity to collect and report participation data for underrepresented groups in alignment with the NASA STEM Engagement Learning Agenda, performance goals, and success criteria.

By Non-Federal Organizations:

  • Techbridge Girls: Techbridge Girls will aim to create and promote nuanced data that reflects the intersectional identities and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and Latina girls living in economic insecurity. To reach one million girls by 2030, the organization’s STEM Equity Blueprint will leverage data, girl and educator voices, and 22 years of experience to raise awareness, tell stories, and build out research specifically focused on the intersectional identities and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and Latina girls living in economically insecure communities across the U.S.
  • American Institute of Physics: The American Institute of Physics’ Statistical Resource center will help lead in providing data on education, careers, and diversity in physics, astronomy and other physical sciences – where past research has studied the representation of women and racial and ethnic minorities in physics, the impact of harassment and discrimination in astronomy, and the impact of COVID-19 on students. The Institute is also leading efforts to develop and implement a DEI strategic plan to guide and support the work of its 10 Member Societies.
  • Johns Hopkins University: JHU will hold an annual DEI Summit to publicly share the progress made on the goals in its recently released Strategic Roadmap. University-wide and divisional goals will be publicly available, along with annual updates on progress made or yet to be fully realized. JHU also invests in opportunities to advance equitable access to STEMM within the community through programs like the STEM Achievement in Baltimore Elementary Schools (SABES) program, which seeks to improve STEMM curriculum and delivery in grades K-5.
  • Spelman College: Spelman College’s Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM (COE-MWS) recently launched the STEM Equity Research Hub, the initial component of a national repository for the dissemination of research, data, and curriculum focused on the recruitment, retention, experiences, and advancement of Black, Latina and Indigenous women in STEMM. The Hub will support Spelman faculty in completing projects and publications that highlight Spelman’s effective practices, fund Spelman students to develop research projects and conduct research at the intersection of social justice and STEMM, and offer opportunities to faculty and students to enhance their knowledge about conducting research on STEMM equity.
  • Lasker Foundation: The Lasker Foundation will partner with Research!America to do a landscape analysis of communications training programs for scientists in the US, to help identify gaps and to design initiatives to fill those gaps. This initiative is aimed at helping to create a diverse cadre of communicators who will reach out widely to engage the public with science and scientists, as part of efforts to increase public trust and support for science.

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