Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Report Identifies STEM Career Exposure Gap for Black Students

  • By Kate Lucariello
  • 04/01/24

Technology provider YouScience and nonprofit organization Black Girls Do STEM have reported notable gaps between Black students' high aptitude for STEM careers and low interest in pursuing them. Their 2024 report, "From Classroom to Career," offers recommendations for closing these gaps.

The report analyzed data from 328,000 United States Black middle and high school students assessed by YouScience's computerized aptitude and career-fit tool between 2019 and 2023. The report noted an especially significant gap for female Black students between aptitude for and interest in STEM careers.

Key areas analyzed for Black females showed significantly more aptitude than interest, especially in advanced manufacturing (88%), computers and technology (73%), and architecture and construction (72%).

The report's authors surmise these gaps are due to lack of Black professional representation in these fields, noting that in 2021, only 9% of the STEM workforce was Black.

The report concludes with three major recommendations for helping to close the gaps:

  • Help everyone to look beyond stereotypes: Allow Black girls to be "seen, heard, and valued enough to be allowed space to learn, fail, and grow where culture, confidence, and community are created…," said Cynthia Chappel, Black Girls Do STEM founder. This helps them to "uncover who they really are, discover what skills are inherently in them, and who and what they want to be";
  • Provide and steer students toward "intentional pathways": Offer mentoring programs, SAT/ACT preparation and tutoring, university tours, and internships/externships; and
  • Help students progress "from classroom to career": Support and encourage them to take part in extracurricular activities such as programs and internships starting in middle school.

The full report can be downloaded on this page.

YouScience and Black Girls Do STEM are also collaborating to solve the career exposure gap for Black students. YouScience will donate 160 licenses for its Aptitude and Career Discovery tool to Black Girls Do STEM for the 2024-25 school year to help Black students explore careers based on their aptitudes.

About the Author

Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.

Featured

  • education funding and graduation symbols on wooden dice

    What Is the Education Freedom Tax Credit and How Will It Work?

    The federal Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC) is a new source of funding for education that could benefit 90% of students in states that have opted in to the program. However, some confusion and misconceptions exist surrounding details of the program, including which programs may qualify, how parents can apply for scholarships, and how public school students can benefit.

  • digital graph

    Building Genuinely Data-Informed School Districts

    Schools today generate enormous amounts of data. The difference between collecting it and using it effectively often comes down to quality, access, and context.

  • Abstract Network Connection Structure with Glowing Nodes and Lines on Dark Background

    Rubrik, CrowdStrike Announce Expanded Integration to Speed Identity Recovery

    Cybersecurity companies Rubrik and CrowdStrike have announced an expanded identity-security integration designed to move compromised identity environments from threat detection through clean recovery with less manual intervention.

  • abstract spiral of multi colored lights

    OpenAI's New Astra Model Reaches Critical Cyber Threshold

    OpenAI has introduced GPT-6 Astra, its most capable broadly deployed model and the first system the company says has reached the "Critical" cybersecurity capability threshold under its Preparedness Framework.