IB 
Union Calendar No. 142 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2528 
[Report No. 116–184] 
To direct the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to 
carry out programs and activities to ensure that Federal science agencies 
and institutions of higher education receiving Federal research and devel-
opment funding are fully engaging their entire talent pool, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2019 
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
JULY 30, 2019 
Additional sponsors: Mr. BEYER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. HILL 
of California, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. LAMB, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. CLARKE 
of New York, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. 
FOSTER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. SIRES, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N 
of Puerto Rico, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. TONKO, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mrs. 
FLETCHER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. 
WALTZ, and Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL 
JULY 30, 2019 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 7, 2019] 
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A BILL 
To direct the Director of the Office of Science and Tech-
nology Policy to carry out programs and activities to 
ensure that Federal science agencies and institutions of 
higher education receiving Federal research and develop-
ment funding are fully engaging their entire talent pool, 
and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘STEM Opportunities Act of 2019’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; findings. 
Sec. 2. Purposes. 
Sec. 3. Federal science agency policies for caregivers. 
Sec. 4. Collection and reporting of data on Federal research grants. 
Sec. 5. Policies for review of Federal research grants. 
Sec. 6. Collection of data on demographics of faculty. 
Sec. 7. Cultural and institutional barriers to expanding the academic and Fed-
eral STEM workforce. 
Sec. 8. Research and dissemination at the National Science Foundation. 
Sec. 9. Research and related activities to expand STEM opportunities. 
Sec. 10. Tribal Colleges and Universities Program. 
Sec. 11. Report to Congress. 
Sec. 12. Merit review. 
Sec. 13. Definitions. 
(c) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Many reports over the past decade have 
found that it is critical to our Nation’s economic 
leadership and global competitiveness that the United 
States educates and trains more scientists and engi-
neers. 
(2) Research shows that women and minorities 
who are interested in STEM careers are dispropor-
tionately lost at nearly every educational transition 
and at every career milestone. 
(3) The National Center for Science and Engi-
neering Statistics at the National Science Foundation 
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collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes data on the 
demographics of STEM degrees and STEM jobs in the 
United States. 
(4) Women now earn nearly 37 percent of all 
STEM bachelor’s degrees, but major variations persist 
among fields. In 2017, women earned only 20 percent 
of all bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering and 
19 percent of bachelor’s degrees awarded in computer 
sciences. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 
jobs in computing occupations are expected to account 
for nearly 60 percent of the projected annual growth 
of newly created STEM job openings from 2016 to 
2026. 
(5) In 2017, underrepresented minority groups 
comprised 39 percent of the college-age population of 
the United States, but only 18 percent of students who 
earned bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields. The Higher 
Education Research Institute at the University of 
California, Los Angeles, found that, while freshmen 
from underrepresented minority groups express an in-
terest in pursuing a STEM undergraduate 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 percent of Native American stu-
dents studying in STEM fields complete their degree 
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within 5 years, compared to approximately 33 per-
cent of White students and 42 percent of Asian stu-
dents who complete their degree within 5 years. 
(6) In some STEM fields, including the com-
puter sciences, women persist at about the same rate 
through doctorate degrees. In other STEM fields, 
women persist through doctorate degrees at a lower 
rate. In mathematics, women earn just 26 percent of 
doctorate degrees compared with 42 percent of under-
graduate degrees. Overall, women earned 38 percent 
of STEM doctorate degrees in 2016. The rate of mi-
nority students earning STEM doctorate degrees in 
physics is 9 percent, compared with 15 percent for 
bachelor’s degree. Students from underrepresented mi-
nority groups accounted for only 11.5 percent of 
STEM doctorate degrees awarded in 2016. 
(7) The representation of women in STEM drops 
significantly from the doctorate degree level to the fac-
ulty level. Overall, women hold only 26 percent of all 
tenured and tenure-track positions and 27 percent of 
full professor positions in STEM fields in our Na-
tion’s universities and 4-year colleges. Black and His-
panic faculty together hold about 6.8 percent of all 
tenured and tenure-track positions and 7.5 percent of 
full professor positions. Many of the numbers in the 
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American Indian or Alaskan Native and Native Ha-
waiian or Other Pacific Islander categories for dif-
ferent faculty ranks were too small for the National 
Science Foundation to report publicly without poten-
tially compromising confidential information about 
the individuals being surveyed. 
(8) The representation of women is especially 
low at our Nation’s top research universities. Even in 
the biological sciences, in which women now earn 
more than 50 percent of the doctorates and passed the 
25 percent level 37 years ago, women make up only 
25 percent of the full professors at the approximately 
100 most research-intensive universities in the United 
States. In the physical sciences and mathematics, 
women make up only 11 percent of full professors, in 
computer sciences only 10 percent, and across engi-
neering fields only 7 percent. The data suggest that 
approximately 6 percent of all tenure-track STEM 
faculty members at the most research-intensive uni-
versities are from underrepresented minority groups, 
but in some fields the numbers are too small to report 
publicly. 
(9) By 2050, underrepresented minorities will 
comprise 52 percent of the college-age population of 
the United States. If the percentage of female students 
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and students from underrepresented minority groups 
earning bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields does not 
significantly increase, the United States will face an 
acute shortfall in the overall number of students who 
earn degrees in STEM fields just as United States 
companies are increasingly seeking students with 
those skills. With this impending shortfall, the United 
States will almost certainly lose its competitive edge 
in the 21st century global economy. 
(10) According to a 2014 Association for Women 
in Science survey of over 4,000 scientists across the 
globe, 70 percent of whom were men, STEM research-
ers face significant challenges in work-life integration. 
Researchers in the United States were among the 
most likely to experience a conflict between work and 
their personal life at least weekly. One-third of re-
searchers surveyed said that ensuring good work-life 
integration has negatively impacted their careers, 
and, of researchers intending to leave their current job 
within the next year, 9 percent indicated it was be-
cause they were unable to balance work and life de-
mands. 
(11) Female students and students from under-
represented minority groups at institutions of higher 
education who see few others ‘‘like themselves’’ among 
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faculty and student populations often do not experi-
ence the social integration that is necessary for suc-
cess in all disciplines, including STEM. 
(12) One in five children in the United States 
attend school in a rural community. The data shows 
that rural students are at a disadvantage with respect 
to STEM readiness. Among STEM-interested stu-
dents, 17 percent of students in rural high schools and 
18 percent of students in town-located high schools 
meet the ACT STEM Benchmark, compared with 33 
percent of students in suburban high schools and 27 
percent of students in urban high schools. 
(13) A substantial body of evidence establishes 
that most people hold implicit biases. Decades of cog-
nitive psychology research reveal that most people 
carry prejudices of which they are unaware but that 
nonetheless play a large role in evaluations of people 
and their work. Unintentional biases and outmoded 
institutional structures are hindering the access and 
advancement of women, minorities, and other groups 
historically underrepresented in STEM. 
(14) Workshops held to educate faculty about un-
intentional biases have demonstrated success in rais-
ing awareness of such biases. 
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(15) In 2012, the Office of Diversity and Equal 
Opportunity of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (in this Act referred to as ‘‘NASA’’) 
completed a report that— 
(A) is specifically designed to help NASA 
grant recipients identify why the dearth of 
women in STEM fields continues and to ensure 
that it is not due to discrimination; and 
(B) provides guidance that is usable by all 
institutions of higher education receiving signifi-
cant Federal research funding on how to conduct 
meaningful self-evaluations of campus culture 
and policies. 
(16) The Federal Government provides 55 per-
cent of research funding at institutions of higher edu-
cation and, through its grant-making policies, has 
had significant influence on institution of higher edu-
cation policies, including policies related to institu-
tional culture and structure. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
(1) To ensure that Federal science agencies and 
institutions of higher education receiving Federal re-
search and development funding are fully engaging 
the entire talent pool of the United States. 
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(2) To promote research on, and increase under-
standing of, the participation and trajectories of 
women, minorities, and other groups historically 
underrepresented in STEM studies and careers, in-
cluding persons with disabilities, older learners, vet-
erans, and rural, poor, and tribal populations, at in-
stitutions of higher education and Federal science 
agencies, including Federal laboratories. 
(3) To raise awareness within Federal science 
agencies, including Federal laboratories, and institu-
tions of higher education about cultural and institu-
tional barriers limiting the recruitment, retention, 
promotion, and other indicators of participation and 
achievement of women, minorities, and other groups 
historically underrepresented in academic and Gov-
ernment STEM research careers at all levels. 
(4) To identify, disseminate, and implement best 
practices at Federal science agencies, including Fed-
eral laboratories, and at institutions of higher edu-
cation to remove or reduce cultural and institutional 
barriers limiting the recruitment, retention, and suc-
cess of women, minorities, and other groups histori-
cally underrepresented in academic and Government 
STEM research careers. 
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(5) To provide grants to institutions of higher 
education to recruit, retain, and advance STEM fac-
ulty members from underrepresented minority groups 
and to implement or expand reforms in under-
graduate STEM education in order to increase the 
number of students from underrepresented minority 
groups receiving degrees in these fields. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL SCIENCE AGENCY POLICIES FOR CARE-
GIVERS. 
(a) OSTP GUIDANCE.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in consulta-
tion with relevant agencies, shall provide guidance to each 
Federal science agency to establish policies that— 
(1) apply to all— 
(A) research awards granted by such agen-
cy; and 
(B) principal investigators of such research 
who have caregiving responsibilities, including 
care for a newborn or newly adopted child and 
care for an immediate family member who is 
sick or disabled; and 
(2) provide— 
(A) flexibility in timing for the initiation of 
approved research awards granted by such agen-
cy; 
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the national knowledge base about models 
for catalyzing institutional change. 
‘‘(B) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—In select-
ing grant recipients under this subsection, the 
Director of the Foundation shall consider, at a 
minimum— 
‘‘(i) the likelihood of success in under-
taking the proposed reform effort at the in-
stitution of higher education submitting the 
application, including the extent to which 
the administrators of the institution are 
committed to making the proposed reform 
effort a priority; 
‘‘(ii) the degree to which the proposed 
reform effort will contribute to change in 
institutional culture and policy such that 
greater value is placed on the recruitment, 
retention, and advancement of faculty mem-
bers 
from 
underrepresented 
minority 
groups; 
‘‘(iii) the likelihood that the institution 
of higher education will sustain or expand 
the proposed reform effort beyond the period 
of the grant; and 
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