UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State is one of 41 academic institutions participating in the Council of Graduate Schools’ (CGS) Broadening Participation in STEM Graduate Degrees and the U.S. STEM Workforce project, assisting in the goal of providing graduate institutions around the country with information to help foster a more diverse and inclusive science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce.  

The program was launched by the CGS and the National Science Foundation (NSF), with the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School leading the initiative for Penn State. In total, a subaward of $45,000 was given to each of the selected institutions that are participating in the program. 

With an expected end date of September 2027, the program focuses on STEM fields and will collect data on applications, admissions and matriculation in graduate study for both international and domestic students and explore how pathways into graduate study differ by gender, ethnicity, citizenship status and field of study, among other factors.  

"A diverse and capable workforce is vital to maintaining the nation's standard of excellence in STEM: science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Levon Esters, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Fox Graduate School. “The size and scope of Penn State’s graduate degree offerings in STEM fields make it an ideal institution to be included among the institutions of the program." 

With a current lack of data about the pathways students follow into STEM graduate education and on to the scientific workforce, the project will help to identify where investments in resources and improvements in recruitment and admission practices can have the greatest effects on increasing the size, diversity and strength of the advanced STEM workforce.  

Offering over 140 STEM graduate degree programs, Penn State is heavily invested in these disciplines and supporting these students both today and in the future.  

"The University’s graduate students are entrenched in and contribute to each of these cutting-edge research ventures,” Esters added. “As such, Penn State welcomes the opportunity to participate in this important STEM data initiative sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Council of Graduate Schools."