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Next month, Mexican-American mathematics professor Richard Tapia will receive the country’s most prestigious awards for scientists, National Medal of Science.  He’ll accept the award from President Obama himself, an honor that is bestowed upon roughly six people a year.

The son of immigrants, and the first in his family to attend college, Tapia is originally from Los Angeles where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. from UCLA, and has worked at Rice University in Texas for nearly 40 years.

Aside from his work in computer and applied mathematics at Rice, Tapia is also known for his commitment to creating opportunities in the field of science for women and underrepresented minorities. According to the university’s paper The Rice Thresher, Tapia’s “Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics has had more than double the national average of both minority and female Ph.D. students graduate each year for more than a decade.”

Because of his work in opening doors for minority and underrepresented students, the Rice Thresher also reports that the National Medal of Science will be another accolade to add the the bunch which also includes:

 [T]he Lifetime Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Distinguished Service to the Profession Prize from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the Distinguished Public Service Award from the American Mathematical Society, and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for the Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. He is the first academician to be named Hispanic Engineer of the Year by Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology Magazine.

Well done indeed, Profe!  Learn more about Tapia’s work and impact at Rice University here:

Spread the word! Our weekly Bien Hecho segment, highlights the good deeds and achievements of Latinos across the U.S. If you feel that someone you know is deserving of recognition, let us know at tips@newstaco.com. Thanks to Charles for the tip!

[Photo By Rice University; Video By Rice University]

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By Jean Rockford Aguilar-Valdez

I have a proposition for us Latinos. A revolution of sorts, and one that is ripe for the making: Latinos need to become a force to be reckoned with in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

A recent report showed that over the past 10 years, jobs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) grew three times faster than jobs in other fields, a trend that is only likely to continue. Further, people with jobs in these fields are less likely to be unemployed, earn 26% more than those in other fields, and are in high demand by employers in the U.S. With such wonderful prospects, you’d think everyone would be climbing over themselves to major in these fields and to take these high-paying, high-status jobs with such job security and potential for future growth. Not so.

In spite of the fact that in other arenas, job prospects have been dim, the amount of openings in STEM-related careers continues to increase, and yet the pool of qualified applicants continues to remain low. The shortage of those applying for STEM-related jobs has caused national concern, which has not escaped the attention of even President Obama.

In our increasingly global, interconnected, and technologically-driven society, the demand is high for those with drive and talent for innovation in the sciences, technology, engineering, and math. So much of our future is dependent on there being a large workforce of creative and dedicated minds, to maintain our technological way-of-life and fuel its growth.

Yet, of those who currently inhabit the STEM workforce, the majority is largely white and male and this trend is similar for those majoring in STEM. Latinos represent only 4% of those in STEM. It has long been the case that minorities, especially Latinos, have been grossly underrepresented in STEM. This kind of under-representation not only hurts the economic and social viability of Latinos as a whole, but also becomes a vicious cycle, where young Latinos do not see role models in STEM, and so do not feel welcome there. Further, the lack of Latinos in STEM makes the chances that the knowledge and skills gained from such fields will not be “brought back” into the Latino community. Latinos are then left without examples or benefits of the burgeoning STEM field that others, like middle to upper class whites, are reaping. But things are changing, and there is a golden opportunity before us.

50.5 million Latinos are currently in the U.S. (unofficial numbers are likely way more), and more than half of the nation’s growth in the last 10 years was comprised of Latinos, whose numbers grew four times faster than the U.S. population as a whole. Furthermore, 23.1% of U.S. children under the age of 17, are Latino, making Latinos the largest minority group in the country (And most of this growth is of U.S. citizens, not immigrants).

When 1 in 5 of the children in our schools is Latino, what justification is there for saying that STEM is only for the white, male, and middle- or upper-class? The demographics of the U.S. are changing, and with it we are faced with two options:

1.) Leave STEM to the disproportionally represented white population (and the associated stereotype that only white nerdy boys go into that field) and thus allow the STEM shortage to continue without Latinos enjoying the career-related benefits.

2.) Claim STEM as our own, as a field that can benefit from the strength of our numbers, perspectives, connections, and understandings; bringing to the Latino community all the economic, social, and intellectual power that the field of STEM affords to modern society.

Guess which one I recommend?

Jean Rockford Aguilar-Valdez is a doctoral student studying equity in science education and a former science teacher.

[Photo By Guillermo Cabrera-Rojo]

[Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from the executive summary for a report released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. You can read the entire report here.]

The NAEP 2009 Reading and Mathematics Assessments included grade 4 and grade 8 students nationally and for all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity (hereinafter referred to as states).

This report provides detailed information on the size of the achievement gaps between Hispanic and White public school students at the national and state levels and describes how those achievement gaps have changed over time. Additional information about race/ethnicity in NAEP is given in appendix A of the report. Most of the data in this report is derived from the results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) main assessments in mathematics and reading; however the trend data provided is derived from results from as early as 1990.Achievement Gaps: How Hispanic and White Students in Public Schools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, follows our previous report that provided similar information on the achievement gap between Black and White students.

Mathematics

In 2009, NAEP mathematics scores for both Hispanic and White students in grades 4 and 8 nationwide were higher than in 1990, the first assessment year for both Hispanic and White public school students. Mathematics scores increased, but the achievement gap between Hispanic and White students did not change significantly at either grade 4 or 8 from 1990 to 2009.

• From 2007 to 2009, scores for Hispanic and White fourth-graders remained unchanged and the gap persisted at 21 points.
• For eighth-graders, scores increased for both Hispanic and White students from 2007 to 2009, but the gap remained at 26 points, which was not significantly different from the gap in 1990 or 2007.
• At grade 8, the 2009 mathematics achievement gap for Hispanic and White students eligible for the National School Lunch Program was narrower than in 2003.
• In 2009 at grade 4, eleven states had a smaller Hispanic-White gap than the nation, and six states had a gap that was larger.
• At grade 4, in all 21 states for which 1992 data were available, both Hispanic and White students achieved higher average scores in mathematics in 2009 than in 1992.

In six of those states (Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island) the gap narrowed as Hispanic students’ scores increased more than White students’ scores. In five additional states (Delaware, the Department of Defense Education Activity, Michigan, Missouri, and Oregon) the gap narrowed between Hispanic and White students since the first NAEP assessment year for that state or the first year for which Hispanic student results are reportable. Since all states did not participate in the grade 4 NAEP mathematics assessment in 1992, the first NAEP assessment year varies.

• In 2009 at grade 8, fifteen states had a smaller Hispanic-White gap than the nation, and six had a gap that was larger.
• At grade 8, in 14 of the 15 states for which 1990 data were available, the mathematics scores of Hispanic and White students were higher in 2009 than in 1990. In both Connecticut and Rhode Island, the gap was narrower in 2009 than in 1990.
• In three additional states, Delaware, Hawaii, and Missouri, the gap narrowed between Hispanic and White students since the first year for which Hispanic student results are reportable.
• In Maryland, the gap was wider in 2009 than in 1990, as White eighth-graders’ scores increased more than those of their Hispanic peers.
• In Utah, the gap was wider in 2009 than in 1992, the first NAEP assessment year for that state. Since all states did not participate in the grade 8 NAEP mathematics assessment in 1990, the first NAEP assessment year varies.

Reading

At the national level, reading scores increased for both groups significantly, but the achievement gap between Hispanic and White students did not change for fourth- or eighth-graders when comparing 1992 to 2009.

• From 2007 to 2009, scores did not change significantly for either group at the fourth grade. The 26-point gap for fourth-graders in 2007 was not significantly different from the 25-point gap in 2009.
• The 25-point gap for eighth-graders in 2007 was not significantly different from the 24-point gap in 2009, though scores for both Hispanic and White students have increased.
• At grades 4 and 8, the 2009 reading achievement gap for Hispanic and White students eligible for the National School Lunch Program was narrower than in 2003.
• At grade 4, thirteen states had a smaller Hispanic-White gap than the nation, and six had a gap that was larger.
• At grade 4, in 11 of the 21 states for which 1992 data were available, the reading scores of Hispanic and White students were higher in 2009 than in 1992.

Both New Jersey and New York had a narrower gap in 2009 than 1992. In Colorado, the gap widened when comparing 2009 to 1992. In Indiana the gap widened between Hispanic and White students when comparing 2009 to 2002, the first NAEP assessment year for which Hispanic student results are reportable for that state. All states did not participate in the first grade 4 state NAEP reading assessment in 1992, so the first year for which data were available varies.

• At grade 8, seven states had a smaller Hispanic-White gap than the nation, and no state had a gap that was larger.
• At grade 8 state-level data were available for 22 states starting in 1998.
• When comparing 2009 to 1998, the grade 8 reading gap did not change significantly in any state. In Wyoming, both Hispanic and White students scored higher in 2009 than in 1998.
• In Alaska, the gap narrowed between Hispanic and White students when comparing 2009 to 2003, the first NAEP assessment year for that state.
• All states did not participate in the first grade 8 state NAEP reading assessment in 1998, so the first year for which data were available varies.

[Photo By Justin_D_Miller]