Sec. 50302. Findings

306 words·~1 min read·/bill/116/hr/8352/ih/section-50302

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Congress finds the following: From 1993 to 1995, Ronald V. Dellums served as the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives after 20 years of service on such Committee. As a stalwart champion of diversity and inclusion, Chairman Dellums was an early supporter of integrating lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual individuals into the military. Before Chairman Dellums was elected to the House of Representatives in 1970, he was a psychiatric social worker, community organizer, and lecturer.

Chairman Dellums served in the United States Marine Corps from 1954 to 1956. In section 4201 of the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress reiterated the importance of prioritizing this relationship by authorizing more than $12,000,000 above the President’s requests, including 2,000,000 authorized specifically for minority women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. While women of color have made significant progress in graduating from college in the areas of study related to STEAM, they continue to be underrepresented in the STEAM fields.

While underrepresented minority students overall face an opportunity gap in STEAM education, women of color face a larger achievement gap in science and engineering education. In 2016, of bachelor’s degrees awarded in STEAM majors— women received 36 percent; Black individuals received 13 percent; Hispanic individuals received 15 percent; Native American or Alaska Native individuals received 14 percent; and Asian or Pacific Islander individuals received 33 percent. A 2017 report published by the National Science Foundation found that the percentage of all bachelor’s degrees in computer sciences, mathematics, and statistics, and engineering received by women of color has declined since 1996.

Intentional and proactive strategies and programs are necessary to ensure the underrepresentation of women of color in the disciplines and professions related to STEAM fields is appropriately addressed to ensure broad and inclusive participation in areas of national importance.