BEST-Building Engineering & Science Talent, Website
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| Audience/Grade: | 0-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
All Science and Engineering Computing Diversity Engineering Diversity General Engineering, Engineering Science |
| Special Topic(s): |
Native American Engineers and Scientists Black and African American Scientists and Engineers Persons with Disabilities Hispanic Engineers and Scientists Women and Information Technology |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Reference - Article/Document |
| Author(s): |
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| Description: | BEST-Building Engineering and Science Talent launched in September 2001 as a public-private partnership to follow through on the September 2000 recommendations of the Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development. The Commission published a report, Land of Plenty: Diversity as Americas Competitive Edge in Science, Engineering and Technology, which served as a national call to action to redress the demographic imbalance of the U.S. technical workforce. Currently, women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and persons with disabilities comprise 2/3 of the overall workforce but hold only about 1/4 of the technical jobs that drive innovation. This imbalance threatens the economic future of all Americans. The issue is detailed further in The Quiet Crisis: Falling Short in Producing American Scientific and Technical Talent, and "The Perfect Storm" a report and speech by Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and chair of BESTs Blue Ribbon Panel on Higher Education. In 2002 and 2004 BEST participated in Congressional hearings to share initial findings with Congress and the Executive Branch. BEST sought to convene the nations respected practitioners, researchers and policymakers and identify whats working across the country to develop the technical talent of under-represented groups in pre-K through 12, higher education, and the workplace. No comprehensive assessment on this scale had ever been attempted. Three blue ribbon panels published their reports in 2004: |
| Rating: | No Rating |
| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | education research women minorities Hispanics Latino Latina Chicano Chicana African American American Indian Native American Persons with Disabilities |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
(h) Understand global, economic, environmental, and societal context |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | October 2005 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.bestworkforce.org/ |
| Copyright and Use Restrictions: |
Copyright |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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