Minorities in Science

Abstract

The underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in science has been an issue for many decades and has been exhibited at all levels of the educational pathway, including of course professional science careers, which is not surprising since these careers require the successful completion of educational levels. Thus, if the underrepresentation is seen at K-12, college, and professional/graduate school levels, then underrepresentation has to be exhibited at the career level. Generally this has been referred to as the educational/career pipeline and the absence of adequate numbers along the way referred to as “leaks in the pipeline.” For ethnic minorities, a number of reasons for these leaks have been identified and actually some remedies have been identified as well. Unfortunately this issue has not been enough of a priority for those solutions to have been implemented, very often due to inadequate amount of funding, so the problem has continued. Now, considering the changing demographics of the country, this problem is becoming an even major issue with regard to the scientific workforce and the resultant advancement of science in the future.