A Novel Approach to Engaging Minority K-12 Students in NASA STEM Programs for Careers in Engineering

African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans constituted 19 percent of the total workforce in 1990. Of this number only 8 percent of them are in the science, mathematics, engineering and technology workforce (National Science Foundation 1994). The percentages of blacks and Hispanics ages 25 to 29 in 2003 that completed bachelors or higher degrees were 18% and 10%, respectively, compared with 34% for whites. Among high school graduates, the percentages of blacks and Hispanics ages 25 to 29 in 2000 that had completed bachelors or higher degrees stood at 21% and 15%, respectively, compared with 36% for whites. About one-third of all bachelor's degrees earned by every racial/ethnic group, except Asians/Pacific Islanders, are in Science and Engineering (S&E). Asians/Pacific Islanders, as a group, earn almost half of their bachelor's degrees in S&E (NSF S&E Indicators 2006). The department of engineering and aviation science is to set up a Delmarva Aerospace Education Center, (DAEC) engage and retain students in STEM education programs and encourage their pursuit of educational disciplines and careers critical to NASA's engineering, scientific, and technical missions. DAEC is being made possible with support from NASA through the Chesapeake Information Based Aeronautics Consortium (CIBAC) in the Department of Engineering and Aviations Science.