Jean Rockford Aguilar-Valdez is a doctoral student studying equity in science education and a former science teacher who shared her thoughts on the need for Latinos to get into STEM. Here’s a snippet:
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.
Latinos need to become a force to be reckoned with in this area, she writes. Read the whole piece here.
[Image Via Horia Varlan]
Sara Inés Calderón is a journalist and writer who lives between Texas and California. Follow her on Twitter @SaraChicaD.
