STEM Research and Education Effectiveness and Transparency Act

To provide for a report on broadening participation in certain National Science Foundation research and education programs, to collect data on Federal research grants to science agencies, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the STEM Research and Education Effectiveness and Transparency Act 2. Broadening participation in STEM program effectiveness (a) In general Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Science Foundation shall submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of all National Science Foundation research and education programs for broadening the participation of women and other historically underrepresented individuals in STEM studies and careers, including— (1) development or identification of performance metrics to evaluate such programs; (2) information on student outcomes using all available data, including dropout rates, enrollment in graduate programs, internships or apprenticeships, and employment; (3) identification of any data gaps for evaluating the effectiveness and outcomes of National Science Foundation programs to broaden participation; and (4) recommendations for maintaining, translating, and disseminating outcomes data for STEM programs funded by the National Science Foundation. (b) Definition of STEM In this section, the term STEM 42 U.S.C. 6621 3. Collection and reporting of data on Federal research grants (a) Collection of data (1) In general Each Federal science agency shall collect standardized record-level annual information on demographics, primary field, award type, review rating, budget request, funding outcome, and awarded budget for all applications for merit-reviewed research and development grants to institutions of higher education and Federal laboratories supported by that agency. (2) Uniformity and standardization The Director shall establish a policy to ensure uniformity and standardization of the data collection required under paragraph (1). (3) Record-level data (A) Requirement On an annual basis, beginning with the deadline under subparagraph (C), each Federal science agency shall submit to the Director of the National Science Foundation record-level data collected under paragraph (1) in the form required by such Director. (B) Previous data As part of the first submission under subparagraph (A), each Federal science agency, to the extent practicable, shall submit comparable record-level data for the 5 years preceding the deadline under subparagraph (C). (C) Deadline The deadline under this paragraph is not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. (b) Reporting of data The Director of the National Science Foundation shall publish statistical summary data collected under this section, disaggregated and cross-tabulated demographically and by years since completion of doctoral degree, including in conjunction with the National Science Foundation’s report required by section 37 of the Science and Technology Equal Opportunities Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1885d Public Law 96–516 (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Director The term Director (2) Federal laboratory The term Federal laboratory 15 U.S.C. 3703 (3) Federal science agency The term Federal science agency (4) Institution of higher education The term institution of higher education 20 U.S.C. 1001(a)

Summary: STEM Research and Education Effectiveness and Transparency Act This bill directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to report on the effectiveness of all NSF research and education programs intended to broaden the participation of women and other historically underrepresented individuals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and careers. Each federal agency that expended at least $100 million on research and development in FY2017 shall annually submit to the NSF standardized record-level information on demographics, primary field, award type, review rating, budget request, funding outcome, and awarded budget for all applications for merit-reviewed research and development grants to institutions of higher education and federal laboratories. The first submission must include comparable record-level data for the five previous years. The NSF shall publish statistical summaries of the data in conjunction with the required biennial reports on the participation of men and women in scientific and engineering positions.