(1) According to the National Academy of 
Sciences, STEM education at the undergraduate 
level is vital to developing a workforce that will allow 
the United States to remain the leader in the 21st 
century global economy. 
(2) According to the 2013 American Commu-
nity Survey Report on disparities in STEM employ-
ment, women comprise about half of the United 
States workforce but only make up 26 percent of 
STEM workers. 
(3) According to the National Center of Edu-
cation Statistics, women were more likely than men 
to switch out of STEM majors—32 percent vs. 26 
percent. 
(4) According to the 2010 Association of Amer-
ican University Women report ‘‘Why So Few?’’ ap-
proximately 52 percent of women in STEM fields 
quit their jobs about 10 years into their careers. It 
is important for gender equality to increase the re-
tention of women in STEM fields, as women in 
STEM careers earn 33 percent more than those in 
non-STEM jobs, and have a smaller wage gap rel-
ative to men. 
(5) According to recent Census Bureau projec-
tions, minorities will account for 57 percent of the 
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United States population by 2060. According to the 
National Action Council for Minorities in Engineer-
ing, Inc., as the United States works to remain com-
petitive in the world of technological innovation, the 
United States should address the need to increase 
the number of individuals from underrepresented mi-
nority segments of the population who work in engi-
neering. 
(6) The Higher Education Research Institute at 
the University of California, Los Angeles, found 
that, while freshmen from underrepresented minority 
groups express an interest in pursuing a STEM un-
dergraduate degree at the same rate as all other 
freshmen, only 22.1 percent of Latino students, 18.4 
percent of African-American students, and 18.8 per-
cent of Native American students studying in STEM 
fields complete their degree within 5 years, com-
pared to an approximate 33 percent and 42 percent 
5-year completion rate for White and Asian stu-
dents, respectively. 
(7) According to the 2015 Asian Americans Ad-
vancing Justice report ‘‘Making America Work’’, 
data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 
(AAPIs) on average hide the fact that some sub-
groups are underrepresented in STEM fields. For 
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example: only 9 percent of Cambodian, 8 percent of 
Laotian, 8 percent of Hmong, and 7 percent of Na-
tive Hawaiian and Pacific Islander workers hold 
STEM jobs, compared to 12 percent of the total 
American population holding STEM jobs. 
(8) According to 3-year estimates from the 
2013 American Community Survey, Southeast Asian 
Americans and Pacific Islanders have higher poverty 
rates and lower educational attainment rates com-
pared to the overall population. Fifteen percent of 
the overall population lives below the Federal pov-
erty level, while 21 percent of Pacific Islanders, 21 
percent of Cambodian, 26 percent of Hmong, 17 
percent of Laotian, and 16 percent of Vietnamese 
community members live in poverty. Compared to 29 
percent of the overall population with a bachelor’s 
degree or higher, members of Pacific Islanders, 
Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese commu-
nities only have a bachelor’s degree or higher at 
rates of 15 percent, 16 percent, 16 percent, 13 per-
cent, and 27 percent, respectively. Levels of poverty 
and postsecondary educational attainment correlate 
with these groups’ underrepresentation in STEM 
employment. Other Asian American and Pacific Is-
lander subgroups with similar poverty and edu-
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cational attainment rates are similarly underrep-
resented in STEM employment. 
(9) A 2014 National Center for Education Sta-
tistics study found that women and underrep-
resented minorities leave the STEM fields at higher 
rates than their counterparts, leading to a need to 
develop resources to retain these groups in the 
STEM fields. 
(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Director of the 
National Science Foundation shall award grants to eligible 
entities, on a competitive basis, to enable such eligible en-
tities to carry out the activities described in subsection (d), 
in order to increase the participation of women and under-
represented minorities in the fields of science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics. 
(c) APPLICATION.—Each eligible entity that desires 
to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli-
cation to the National Science Foundation at such time, 
in such manner, and containing such information as the 
Director of the National Science Foundation may reason-
ably require. 
(d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 
that receives a grant under this section shall use such 
grant funds to carry out one or more of the following ac-
tivities designed to increase the participation of women or 
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minorities underrepresented in science and engineering, or 
both: 
(1) Online workshops. 
(2) Mentoring programs that partner science, 
technology, engineering, or mathematics profes-
sionals with students. 
(3) Internships for undergraduate and graduate 
students in the fields of science, technology, engi-
neering, and mathematics. 
(4) Conducting outreach programs that provide 
elementary school and secondary school students 
with opportunities to increase their exposure to the 
fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathe-
matics. 
(5) Programs to increase the recruitment and 
retention of underrepresented faculty. 
(6) Such additional programs as the Director of 
the National Science Foundation may determine. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘minority’’ means American In-
dian, Alaskan Native, Black (not of Hispanic ori-
gin), Hispanic (including persons of Mexican, Puerto 
Rican, Cuban, and Central or South American ori-
gin), Asian (including underrepresented subgroups), 
Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander origin subgroup, 
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or other ethnic group underrepresented in science 
and engineering; and 
(2) the term ‘‘underrepresented in science and 
engineering’’ means a minority group whose number 
of scientists and engineers per 10,000 population of 
that group is substantially below the comparable fig-
ure for scientists and engineers who are White and 
not of Hispanic origin, as determined by the Sec-
retary of Education under section 637.4(b) of title 
34, Code of Federal Regulations. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, 2022, 
2023, and 2024. 
Æ 
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