Sheila Jackson Lee: “I want to focus just a little bit on competitions regarding this amendment, competitions such as FIRST, which is a…”

“I want to focus just a little bit on competitions regarding this amendment, competitions such as FIRST, which is a national robotics competition that engages 400,000 students each year and that awards millions of dollars in scholarships, paving the way for future STEM success. I submit for the Record a document entitled, ``Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin.'' [From census.gov, Sept. 2013] Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin (By Liana Christin Landivar) american community survey reports Introduction Industry, government, and academic leaders cite increasing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce as a top concern. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine describe STEM as ``high-quality, knowledge-intensive jobs . . . that lead to discovery and new technology,'' improving the U.S. economy and standard of living. In 2007, Congress passed the America COMPETES Act, reauthorized in 2010, to increase funding for STEM education and research. One focus area for increasing the STEM workforce has been to reduce disparities in STEM employment by sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Historically, women, Blacks, and Hispanics have been underrepresented in STEM employment.…”