Civil and Human Rights Coalition Highlights Wide Disparities in Science and Math Education in New Report

WASHINGTON –Today, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund released “Advancing Equity through More and Better STEM Learning,” a report that examines the wide disparities in access to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in the United States.

The report addresses access to STEM education as a critical civil rights concern and comes at a time when only 2.2 percent of Latinos and 2.7 percent of African Americans have earned a university degree in the natural sciences or engineering by age 24.

“Advancing Equity through More and Better STEM Learning” details how a scarcity of AP classes, qualified teachers and resources have left far too many minority and women students without access to a quality STEM education, effectively locking them out of opportunities in many careers fields like computer science, defense, engineering, and chemistry. The report provides recommendations on ways to improve access to STEM learning and analyzes several initiatives that are having an impact on narrowing these disparities.

“Equal access to STEM education is crucial to the civil rights community, to the future of our country and economy, and to the lives of millions of minority and women students,” said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of both The Leadership Conference and The Education Fund. “We must – all of us – examine what systemic changes are necessary to ensuring that STEM learning is inclusive, engaging, and equally accessible, so that all of our children have the same opportunities to adequately prepare for college and for careers that will allow them to support themselves and their families.”

Click here to download the report.

The Leadership Conference Education Fund builds public will for federal policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Education Fund’s campaigns empower and mobilize advocates around the country to push for progressive change in the United States.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. 

For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.