The U.S. News and World Report – Allie Bidwell
“It’s not often that you hear calls for more men to participate in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Advocates consistently beat the drum to find ways to engage more female and minority students in STEM fields, which are still largely dominated by men. But within that group is perhaps one of the most underrepresented demographics: African-American men. Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, the number of black men who earn science and engineering doctorates grew by more than 25 percent in 10 years, according to data from the National Science Foundation. While that appears to be a large growth, the absolute numbers barely budged between 2003 and 2013 – inching up from just 631 of 13,921 recipients to 798 of 16,542 recipients – and the representation has stayed essentially flat, between 4.5 percent and 4.8 percent of all science and engineering doctorates. The number of science and engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to black men increased 45 percent, from 12,484 in 2002 to 18,102 in 2012. But similarly, black men as a proportion of all science and engineering bachelor’s degree recipients has remained essentially unchanged, at 6.1 percent in 2002 and 6.2 percent in 2012.”(more)