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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Courtney Reed Jenkins, NAPE,
Director, Professional Development
610-593-8038 or creedjenkins@napequity.org
NAPE EDUCATION FOUNDATION RECEIVES FIVE-YEAR NATIONAL
SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRANT TO INCREASE STEM ACCESS FOR UNDERREPRESENTED
GROUPS
COCHRANVILLE, PA (9/27/12) --- The
National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity's (NAPE) Education
Foundation has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Science
Foundation (NSF) to continue and grow its STEM Equity Pipeline™
initiative.
NAPE launched STEM Equity Pipeline in
2007 with funding from the National Science Foundation's Gender in
Science and Engineering program. Through this new NSF grant, NAPE's
STEM Equity Pipeline, currently working in 12 states, will be able to
expand to 10 additional states.
The project works with both state- and
local-level educators to develop policies and programs to ensure equity
is integral to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
education initiatives being developed in the state. The project will also
provide intensive professional development to state and local
administrators, counselors, and faculty to implement research-based
practices designed to increase access, success, and postsecondary
transition of girls and other underrepresented groups in STEM.
Pat Elizondo, Senior Vice President,
Xerox Corporation, Chair of the NAPE Business and Industry Advisory
Council and member of the NAPE Education Foundation Board of Directors,
says, "This is a very important award that solidifies our ability
at NAPE to execute on our aggressive plan for 2013 and beyond. NAPE is
making measureable progress in changing the face of the STEM
workforce."
Noting that women in STEM occupations earn 33 percent more than those
in non-STEM occupations and that the wage gap between men and women in
STEM jobs is significantly smaller than in other fields, Mimi Lufkin,
Chief Executive Officer of NAPE, asserts, "Increasing the
diversity of the STEM workforce is good for business and individuals.
Business benefits from increased innovation and competitiveness while
individuals can become economically self-sufficient by participating in
a high-skill, high-wage career in STEM."
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About NAPE The National
Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) is a national, nonprofit
consortium of state and local agencies, corporations, and national
organizations that collaborate to create equitable and diverse
classrooms and workplaces where there are no barriers to opportunities.
Through its Education Foundation, NAPE has been involved in a number of
initiatives to increase diversity in America's workforce and to
increase opportunities in high-skill, high-wage, high-demand careers.
Among these is the National Science Foundation-funded STEM Equity
Pipeline Project, which works with educational systems to increase the
participation of underrepresented populations in STEM education. For
more information, visit www.napequity.org and www.stemequitypipeline.org.
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