Striving for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Remote Sensing Education

The United States is continuing on the trajectory to be a racially and ethnically diverse society where non-Hispanic Whites are projected to become the largest group for the next four decades. Whilst the majority becomes the minority and vice versa, the same trend is not reflected in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degree attainment or the STEM workforce. A recent report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine describes how minority-serving institutions are not widely targeted and highly utilized in the production of future STEM workers. The NSF reported that 22% of all science and engineering bachelor's degrees were awarded to underrepresented minorities. The distribution of bachelor's degrees consisted of Hispanics or Latinos receiving 13.5% of science and 10% of engineering degrees; Black or African Americans, 9% and 4%; and American Indians or Alaska Natives, 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. From years 2004 to 2014, there has been a 11.6% decline of underrepresented minorities earning science and engineering bachelor's degree at high Hispanic enrollment institutions and a 26.5% decline at historically black colleges or universities. The NSF also reported that in 2015, African-American and Hispanic scientists and engineers working in science and engineering occupations were only five and six percent, respectively. Although studies have found modest gains in geoscience bachelor's degree recipients among women, the number of underrepresented minorities recipients is at 12% or less. Additionally, other studies reported that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2017 underrepresented minorities comprised only a tenth of the geoscience workforce in the United States, and women comprised approximately a third of environmental scientists and geoscientists and a fifth of the four-year geoscience faculty. It is clear that for too long the geosciences (and STEM in general) has struggled to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. At the Center for Remote Sensing and Earth System Sciences (ReSESS) at the New York City College of Technology, the catalyst of Service-Learning via Remote Sensing Research in underserved communities and with underrepresented minority students was used as a means of attracting and engaging students in remote sensing research. Results show that the DEI-service learning-remote sensing nexus increased awareness and, understanding in the geosciences, and it motivated underrepresented students to share their newfound knowledge with local citizens in environmental sustainability initiatives. Both students and citizens were enthralled by the engagement of remote sensing at the neighborhood scale.