Boston Globe: Invest in developing homegrown STEM talent
In an op-ed written for The Boston Globe, J. Keith Motley, chancellor of University of Massachusetts Boston, cited research findings from the UMass Donahue Institute’s Applied Research and Program Evaluation group (formerly known as Research and Evaluation), which show that statewide, Hispanic and African-American students express the greatest interest in STEM health majors. The study, sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s STEM Pipeline Fund, is part of ongoing research, which looks at data collected from the state’s public school SAT takers to gauge interest and achievement in areas of STEM education.
Chancellor Motley’s piece emphasized the critical need to invest in the state’s public higher education institutions in order to develop the skilled workforce required to bolster Boston’s innovation economy. While much has been made of a “brain drain,” the ongoing exodus of talent observed when Boston’s many university and college graduates leave for opportunities elsewhere, Motley points to the fact that 75 to 80 percent of graduates from public universities here stay in state, contribute to our workforce, and help drive our economy for decades into the future.
Read article: Invest in developing homegrown STEM talent
October 18, 2012
