The power of collaboration and the importance of building paths for others to follow were topics, front and center, during the 2024 White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence.
Dr. Arati PrabhakarNational Association of Counties
During the May 1 event – hosted and livestreamed by the STEMM Opportunity Alliance (SOA) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) – leaders and pioneers across multiple industries gathered to speak about the ways in which they and their organizations are advancing the work of increasing diversity, equity, and access in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM).
Founded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Doris Duke Foundation, the SOA is a coalition of more than 200 organizations that have committed to aiding efforts to bolster equity in STEMM fields. The alliance launched in 2022 at the first White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence.
These organizations are collectively investing more than $2 billion toward efforts to improve equity in STEMM, said Dr. Travis York, director of Inclusive STEMM Ecosystems for Equity & Diversity (ISEED) at AAAS. He also announced the appointment of Dr. Stephanie Rodriguez from the Department of Labor as SOA’s inaugural director.
The “sobering reality” is that there is inequity in STEMM education and pay in this nation, said OSTP Director Dr. Arati Prabhakar, noting that, on average, Black workers in STEM are paid 78% and Hispanic workers in STEM are paid 83% of what their white counterparts make.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students had less contact with teachers and less access to computers with stable internet connections compared to white students, Prabhakar said.
“For many decades, we've seen very well-intentioned STEM efforts focused on equity and opportunity,” Prabhakar said. “But we haven't seen the change in outcomes at the scale that is necessary to really get this job done.
