The division operates and coordinates a range of programs that focus on increasing the presence in science and engineering of underrepresented minorities, women and girls, and persons with disabilities. Division programs represent a coherent effort to stimulate organizational and institutional change, markedly improve the quality of educational opportunities available to minority and other students, and increase the quality and quantity of these students pursuing degrees in SMET disciplines. This objective facilitates the long-term goal of increasing the production of Ph.D.'s in SMET fields, with an emphasis on entry into faculty positions. It is expected that successful partnerships will enable development of approaches tailored to the institutional setting for achievement of program goals in SMET undergraduate education.
Nonprofit organizations serve as members of the alliance or partnership.
The lack of role models and mentors in the professoriate constitutes a significant barrier to producing minority SME graduates, and NSF is particularly interested in increasing the number of minorities who will enter the professoriate in these disciplines. To accomplish this objective, the research component will be informed by a portfolio of Federal and private efforts in this arena in order to identify factors underlying exemplary as well as unsuccessful efforts. The awardees serve as examples to their colleagues and national leaders in fully developing the Nation's human resources in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology NSF recognizes that academic institutions with significant minority student enrollments play a vital role in conducting research that contributes to our knowledge base in all disciplines, and in educating minority students who go on to careers in the fields of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. These resources provide increased opportunities for minority faculty and students to engage in research.