II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4028 

To increase the participation of historically underrepresented demographic 

groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education 

and industry. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2024 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. CASEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. 

BUTLER, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To increase the participation of historically underrepresented 

demographic groups in science, technology, engineering, 

and mathematics education and industry. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women and Underrep5 resented Minorities in STEM Booster Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE PARTICIPA2 TION OF WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED 

3 MINORITIES IN STEM FIELDS. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) According to the National Academies of 

6 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), 

7 science, technology, engineering, and math (referred 

8 to in this Act as ‘‘STEM’’) education is critical to 

9 ensuring the United States maintains a diverse and 

10 competitive workforce. 

11 (2) According to NASEM and the National In12 stitutes of Health (NIH), diverse teams of STEM 

13 professionals innovate at higher rates than teams 

14 composed of individuals with similar identities or 

15 backgrounds. 

16 (3) According to the National Science Founda17 tion (NSF), in 2020 women earned only 43 percent 

18 of bachelor’s degrees in physical and earth sciences, 

19 26 percent in mathematical and computer sciences, 

20 and 24 percent in engineering. By contrast, women 

21 earned 66 percent of bachelor’s degrees in social and 

22 behavioral sciences and 64 percent in agricultural 

23 and biological sciences. 

24 (4) According to the NSF, STEM degree pro25 grams that are currently underrepresented by 

26 women also receive greater Federal financial support 


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1 for education and living expenses, compared with de2 gree programs with disproportionately high female 

3 enrollment. Thus, male graduate students receive 

4 more Federal financial support than women. 

5 (5) According to the NSF, while Black or Afri6 can Americans made up 14 percent of the population 

7 of the United States (ages 18–34 years) in 2021, 

8 only 9 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients in 

9 science and engineering were awarded to that same 

10 racial group. Moreover, while 22 percent of the pop11 ulation of the United States (ages 18–34) were His12 panic or Latino, they comprised only 17 percent of 

13 science and engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded 

14 that year. 

15 (6) According to the National Center for Edu16 cation Statistics (NCES), only 0.3 percent of bach17 elors’ degrees and less than 0.2 percent of masters 

18 and doctoral degrees in STEM were awarded to 

19 American Indian and Alaska Native students from 

20 2020 through 2021, less than half their representa21 tion of the total population of the United States in 

22 2021. 

23 (7) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 

24 2017 through 2021, less than 5 percent of women 

25 who worked full-time in the United States were emVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Apr 06, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4028.IS S4028

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1 ployed in computer, engineering, or science occupa2 tions while more than 10 percent of men who 

3 worked full-time in the United States were employed 

4 in computer, engineering, or science occupations. 

5 Only 4 percent of Black or African Americans who 

6 worked full-time in the United States were employed 

7 in computer, engineering, or science occupations and 

8 only 5 percent of American Indian and Alaska Na9 tives who worked full-time in the United States were 

10 employed in computer, engineering, or science occu11 pations, while the national average of the full-time 

12 workforce in the United States who were employed 

13 in computer, engineering, or science occupations was 

14 8 percent. 

15 (8) According to the National Center for 

16 Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), 

17 women leave STEM fields at much higher rates than 

18 men. In 2021, while 79 percent of women awarded 

19 STEM degrees in 2020 were employed in a STEM 

20 occupation, only 53 percent of women remained in 

21 STEM within 5 years of earning their highest de22 gree, and only 44 percent remained after 10 years. 

23 By contrast, 86 percent of men who had earned 

24 STEM degrees in 2020 were employed in STEM oc25 cupations, 73 percent of men remained in STEM 


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1 within 5 years of earning their degree, and 70 per2 cent of men remained in STEM after 10 years. 

3 (9) According to NCSES, STEM retention is 

4 even lower for women of color: in 2021, only 50 per5 cent of Black women and 44 percent of Hispanic 

6 women who received STEM degrees in 2020 were 

7 employed in a STEM occupation, compared with 82 

8 percent of white, non-Hispanic women. Less than 30 

9 percent of Black or Hispanic women remained in 

10 STEM after 10 years, compared with 52 percent of 

11 white, non-Hispanic women. 

12 (10) According to NCSES, STEM retention 

13 rates for Black or Hispanic men are higher than for 

14 women of any race but lower than white, non-His15 panic men. In 2021, 87 percent of Black or His16 panic men who received STEM degrees in 2020 were 

17 employed in a STEM occupation, compared with 93 

18 percent of white, non-Hispanic men. Only 51 percent 

19 of Black and 61 percent of Hispanic men remained 

20 in STEM after 10 years, compared with 74 percent 

21 of white, non-Hispanic men. 

22 (11) Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indi23 cate that certain Asian American, Native Hawaiian 

24 and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) subgroups are still 

25 underrepresented in STEM. From 2017 through 


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1 2021, while 8 percent of workers in the United 

2 States were employed in computing, engineering, 

3 and science occupations, less than 8 percent of Cam4 bodian, Filipino, Hmong, and Laotian workers were 

5 employed in these occupations. Only 4 percent of 

6 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) 

7 workers were employed in these occupations. These 

8 subgroups are even less represented when compared 

9 to AANHPI workers as a whole, who on average 

10 represented 17 percent of the computing, engineer11 ing, and science workforce of the United States. 

12 (12) Also, according to NCES, Native Hawai13 ian and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) STEM de14 gree recipients are underrepresented compared with 

15 their overall population (0.2 percent of all U.S. indi16 viduals). NHPI students received less than 0.2 per17 cent of all bachelor’s degrees, and less than 0.1 per18 cent of masters and doctoral degrees, awarded in 

19 STEM from 2020 through 2021. 

20 (13) According to research published by the 

21 American Association for the Advancement of 

22 Science (AAAS), undergraduate students identifying 

23 as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ) were 7 

24 percent less likely to be retained in STEM programs 

25 compared with their heterosexual counterparts, deVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Apr 06, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4028.IS S4028

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1 spite the fact that LGBQ students are 10 percent 

2 more likely to participate in undergraduate research 

3 experiences, which is a significant contributor to 

4 STEM retention absent other factors such as sexual 

5 or gender identity, than their heterosexual counter6 parts. 

7 (14) According to research published by the 

8 American Society for Cell Biology, transgender and 

9 gender nonconforming undergraduate students, who 

10 represent 1 in 14 adults in the United States aged 

11 18–24, are 10 percent less likely to remain in STEM 

12 majors than their cisgender counterparts. 

13 (15) Research published by the AAAS also indi14 cates that 22 percent of LGBTQ professionals had 

15 thought about leaving their STEM job, compared 

16 with 15 percent of non-LGBTQ STEM profes17 sionals. Moreover, 12 percent of LGBTQ profes18 sionals planned to leave their STEM profession 

19 within the next 5 years, compared with 8 percent of 

20 non-LGBTQ professionals. 

21 (16) Finally, according to the NSF, persons 

22 with a disability are underrepresented in the general 

23 workforce (4 percent) compared with their represen24 tation in the general U.S. population (9 percent), 


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1 and even less represented in the STEM workforce (3 

2 percent). 

3 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Director of the 

4 National Science Foundation shall award grants to eligible 

5 entities, on a competitive basis, to enable such eligible en6 tities to carry out the activities described in subsection (d), 

7 in order to increase the participation of women, persons 

8 underrepresented in science and engineering, and persons 

9 with disabilities in the fields of science, technology, engi10 neering, and mathematics. 

11 (c) APPLICATION.—Each eligible entity that desires 

12 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli13 cation to the National Science Foundation at such time, 

14 in such manner, and containing such information as the 

15 Director of the National Science Foundation may reason16 ably require. 

17 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 

18 that receives a grant under this section shall use such 

19 grant funds to carry out 1 or more of the following activi20 ties designed to increase the participation of women, per21 sons underrepresented in science and engineering, or per22 sons with disabilities, or 2 or more of such groups, in the 

23 fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathe24 matics: 

25 (1) Online workshops. 


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1 (2) Mentoring programs that partner science, 

2 technology, engineering, or mathematics profes3 sionals with students. 

4 (3) Internships for undergraduate and graduate 

5 students in the fields of science, technology, engi6 neering, and mathematics. 

7 (4) Conducting outreach programs that provide 

8 elementary school and secondary school students 

9 with opportunities to increase their exposure to the 

10 fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathe11 matics. 

12 (5) Programs to increase the recruitment and 

13 retention of underrepresented faculty. 

14 (6) Such additional programs as the Director of 

15 the National Science Foundation may determine. 

16 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

17 (1) MINORITY.—The term ‘‘minority’’ means 

18 American Indian, Alaskan Native, Black (not of His19 panic origin), Hispanic (including persons of Mexi20 can, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central or South 

21 American origin), Asian (including underrepresented 

22 subgroups), Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander origin 

23 subgroup, or other ethnic group underrepresented in 

24 science and engineering, or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, 


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1 Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ), or gender-noncon2 forming. 

3 (2) UNDERREPRESENTED IN SCIENCE AND EN4 GINEERING.—The term ‘‘underrepresented in science 

5 and engineering’’ means a minority group whose 

6 number of scientists and engineers per 10,000 popu7 lation of that group is substantially below the com8 parable figure for scientists and engineers who are 

9 White and not of Hispanic origin, as determined by 

10 the Secretary of Education under section 637.4(b) of 

11 title 34, Code of Federal Regulations (or a similar 

12 successor regulation). 

13 (3) PERSON WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

14 ‘‘person with a disability’’ means an individual with 

15 1 or more disability types as defined by the U.S. 

16 Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). 

17 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025, 2026, 2027, 

20 2028, and 2029. 

Æ 


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