Helping a Historically Black College Add STEM Faculty

September 30, 2022

With a $5.7 million gift from the Simons Foundation, Spelman College will add 10 faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The historically Black college hopes this will enable it to double the number of graduates who eventually earn doctorates in these fields. Boosting Spelman—the nation’s top producer of Black women who go on to earn STEM doctorates—with this gift aligns with the argument that Freeman A. Hrabowski III and Peter H. Henderson offer in Issues. To expand underrepresented minority participation in science and engineering, they write, an immediate focus should be funding institutions already proven successful in graduating diverse students.

Posted by Tom Burroughs