Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Federal education policy reports in science and mathematics education have treated Students of Color consistently over the past two decades, addressing the underrepresentation of minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields with little regard to actual issues of race and ethnicity. We examine how 17 federal education policy briefs focusing on STEM have addressed issues of equity with regard to Students of Color. We use a critical race theory lens to interpret and understand our findings. We find that the documents used broadly defined, racially essentializing terms; that discourse surrounding race fluctuated, perhaps cyclically, over time; and that arguments for inclusive STEM education were made predominantly from a one-sided economic perspective, favoring the owners and operators of STEM enterprises.
Basile et al. (Wed,) studied this question.