# Presentation: 010677

## Life Science Education and Employment:  Minorities in the Pipeline

*Nirmala Kannankutty*
*National Science Foundation*
*Division of Science Resources Studies*
*Workshop on Recruitment and *
*Retention of Minorities*
*Bethesda, MD*
*May 24, 2001*

## Goals

- Show some characteristics of the education and employment pipeline for individuals educated in the life sciences
- Show some comparisons between underrepresented minorities and the majority population
- Learn about access to data that may help to inform policy and program decisions

## Data on Minorities

- Current categories:  late 1970s / early 1980s
- Categories of interest:
- African-American
- Hispanic
- American Indian/Alaskan Native
- New categories in 2003
- Black/African-American
- Hispanic
- American Indian/Alaska Native
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
- Multiple choices

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## Top Fields for Underrepresented Minority Doctorate Earners in the Biological Sciences (1999)

- 						 Total	  Underrepresented
- 							         Minorities
**All Biological Science Fields  **5,600		 300
- Molecular Biology		  	    719		   39
- Neuroscience			    437		   31
- Biochemistry		  	    763		   27
- Microbiology			    382		   20
- Pharmacology (human & animal)	    254	  	   18
- Physiology (human & animal)	     243		   15
- Cell Biology			    285		   14
- Source:  NSF/SRS, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 1999

## Life Science Degree Holders in the Labor Force (1997)

- 10.6M employed scientists and engineers
- 959,000  (9.1%) are underrepresented minorities
- 1.78M employed scientists and engineers hold at least one degree in the life sciences
- 142,000 (14.9%) are underrepresented minorities
- Source:  NSF/SRS, Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT), 1997

## Occupational Profile of Life Science Degree Holders (1997)

***Total***

***Underrepresented Minorities***

- Source:  NSF/SRS, Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT), 1997

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## The Pipeline Picture - Education

_**Trends**_
- Higher Undergraduate URM Enrollments
- Some Growth in Graduate URM Enrollments
- Stable Proportion of Biological Science Degrees Awarded toURM Students in the 1990s

_**Possible Implications**_
- Potential for Growth in Graduate Enrollments of URM Students
- More Diversity inthe Educational Pipeline
- Potential for Growth in Programs to Attract Minority Students

## The Pipeline Picture - Workforce

_**Trends**_
- Higher proportion
- of employed life science degree holders are from URM groups than all S&Es
- Employed life science degree holders whoare from URM groups are more likely to be in Non-S&E Occs

_**Possible Implications**_
- Bio degree programs may be attracting URM students with more success than some other types of S&E degree programs
- Potential to attract URM individuals educated in the life sciences to Life Science Occupations

## Data Resources

- Science Resources Studies Website*www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/stats.htm** *
- Electronic Publications*www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/pubdata.htm   ** *
- PUBLIC ACCESS TO ALL THE DATA*sestat.nsf.gov **caspar.nsf.gov*