1. Identify EWD Gap(s)
- Identify possible gaps by using four typical (and often overlapping) EWD “buckets.” See examples below of gaps in four typical buckets. Diversity gaps can span buckets.
- Conduct literature searches to find evidence to support your gap.
- Consider starting with landmark publications of National Academies Press or National Research Council
- Follow trail of literature cited in NAP or NRC reports
- Talk with education researchers and outreach experts
Pathway
- Girls make up 50% of high school math and science classes and score identical to boys in standardized tests. Yet, they are only 37% of college STEM enrollment.
- Undergraduate engineering students lack awareness of digital agriculture career pathway.
- K-12 students lack real-world application of STEM subjects when science is taught as static facts rather than dynamic processes. Students lose interest in STEM education.
Skill Development
- Defense industry's advanced domestic manufacturing is vulnerable to diminishing STEM and trade skills.
- Bioscience students have limited/late introduction to statistics and quantitative analysis in undergraduate life science curriculum. Students are not prepared for workforce demands.
- On average, female computer science students start their freshman year with much less of a background in programming than their male counterparts. This impacts retention.
Diversity
- Low-income students and black and Latino females are less likely to have opportunities to take advanced STEM courses. Students are less prepared for STEM coursework.
- MSI faculty carry high teaching loads that often prevent their participation as STEM research mentors.
Public Literacy
- Lack of understanding of science behind GMOs leads to uninformed consumer decision making.
- Parents are unprepared to guide children in STEM career options.
- Lack of lifelong science education hinders participation as citizens in democratic process.
Questions?
If you have any questions or would like to request hands-on help from our team of grant writers, please contact Sally Bond at sbond@purdue.edu.
