II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2217 

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 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

PADILLA, 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 Minorities 

5 in STEM Booster Act of 2021’’. 


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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 Academy of 

6 Sciences, STEM education is critical to ensuring the 

7 United States maintains a diverse and competitive 

8 workforce. 

9 (2) According to the United States Census Bu10 reau, women were still vastly underrepresented in 

11 the STEM workforce in 2019: comprising nearly 

12 half of the United States workforce (48 percent), 

13 but only slightly more than a quarter of STEM 

14 workers (27 percent). 

15 (3) According to the National Science Founda16 tion, women only represent 28 percent of all science 

17 and engineering workers: comprising 29 percent of 

18 physical scientists, 25 percent of computer and 

19 mathematical scientists, and 13 percent of engineers. 

20 (4) According to the National Center of Edu21 cation Statistics (NCES), women are more likely 

22 than men to switch out of STEM majors: 32 per23 cent, compared to 26 percent. NCES has also found 

24 that while a higher percentage of bachelor’s degrees 

25 are awarded to females than males (58 percent, 

26 compared to 42 percent), within STEM fields a 


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1 lower percentage of bachelor’s degrees were awarded 

2 to females than males (36 percent, compared to 64 

3 percent). 

4 (5) According to the National Action Council 

5 for Minorities in Engineering, Inc., the United 

6 States needs to increase the number of underrep7 resented minorities who become engineers in order 

8 to remain competitive in a world of technological in9 novation. 

10 (6) According to Asian Americans Advancing 

11 Justice (AAJC), data on Asian Americans and Pa12 cific Islanders (AAPIs) tend to hide the fact that 

13 certain AAPI subgroups are still underrepresented 

14 in STEM: with Cambodian (9 percent), Laotian (8 

15 percent), Hmong (8 percent), and Native Hawaiian 

16 and Pacific Islander (7 percent) workers signifi17 cantly underrepresented compared to other workers 

18 in the United States (12 percent). 

19 (7) Data also tend to hide the fact that certain 

20 subgroups are underrepresented in postsecondary 

21 education: with Cambodian (18 percent), Hmong (17 

22 percent), Laotian (16 percent), and Native Hawaiian 

23 and Pacific Islander (15 percent) students receiving 

24 a bachelor’s degree or higher at lower rates than 

25 other students (30 percent). Furthermore, certain 


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1 subgroups also experience poverty at higher rates: 

2 with Hmong (28 percent), Cambodian (21 percent), 

3 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (20 percent), 

4 and Laotian (17 percent) households living below the 

5 Federal poverty level at significantly higher rates 

6 than the overall population (15 percent). 

7 (8) Finally, NCES has found that women and 

8 underrepresented minorities leave STEM at higher 

9 rates than their counterparts, leading to a need to 

10 develop resources to retain these groups in STEM. 

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

12 National Science Foundation shall award grants to eligible 

13 entities, on a competitive basis, to enable such eligible en14 tities to carry out the activities described in subsection (d), 

15 in order to increase the participation of women and under16 represented minorities in the fields of science, technology, 

17 engineering, and mathematics. 

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

19 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli20 cation to the National Science Foundation at such time, 

21 in such manner, and containing such information as the 

22 Director of the National Science Foundation may reason23 ably require. 

24 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 

25 that receives a grant under this section shall use such 


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1 grant funds to carry out one or more of the following ac2 tivities designed to increase the participation of women or 

3 minorities underrepresented in science and engineering, or 

4 both: 

5 (1) Online workshops. 

6 (2) Mentoring programs that partner science, 

7 technology, engineering, or mathematics profes8 sionals with students. 

9 (3) Internships for undergraduate and graduate 

10 students in the fields of science, technology, engi11 neering, and mathematics. 

12 (4) Conducting outreach programs that provide 

13 elementary school and secondary school students 

14 with opportunities to increase their exposure to the 

15 fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathe16 matics. 

17 (5) Programs to increase the recruitment and 

18 retention of underrepresented faculty. 

19 (6) Such additional programs as the Director of 

20 the National Science Foundation may determine. 

21 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 

22 (1) the term ‘‘minority’’ means American In23 dian, Alaskan Native, Black (not of Hispanic ori24 gin), Hispanic (including persons of Mexican, Puerto 

25 Rican, Cuban, and Central or South American oriVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2217.IS S2217

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1 gin), Asian (including underrepresented subgroups), 

2 Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander origin subgroup, 

3 or other ethnic group underrepresented in science 

4 and engineering; and 

5 (2) the term ‘‘underrepresented in science and 

6 engineering’’ means a minority group whose number 

7 of scientists and engineers per 10,000 population of 

8 that group is substantially below the comparable fig9 ure for scientists and engineers who are White and 

10 not of Hispanic origin, as determined by the Sec11 retary of Education under section 637.4(b) of title 

12 34, Code of Federal Regulations. 

13 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

15 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, 

16 2025, and 2026. 

Æ 


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