Minority Representation in the Sciences

Minority representation is a prevalent issue in today’s society. In the past, minorities were greatly looked down on and highly under represented. Now minority representation in America has shifted so much that our current president is a minority. The two articles "Invest to Diversify" and "Increasing the Representation of Underrepresented Minority Groups in US Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy" (Increasing the Representation) explore this issue, specifically on their representation in the science and medical fields respectively. These articles both argue that representation of minorities should be increased, but I agree more with Increasing the Representation because the author takes a firmer stance by arguing that minority representation is needed for all of the outcomes it provides.

The article "Invest to Diversify" claims that “Congress and the public should recognize the powerful practical reasons to support programs that aim to raise the numbers of minorities in science.” The first reason the author provides is that Minorities make up a large part of the growing United States population and represent a great untouched population to select for of the next generation of scientists. The author states that many foreigners usually take their learned skills back home. Another reason the author provides is that Minorities generate new fresh ideas in the science community that help their home communities. The final reasoning the author offers is that Minorities will serve as a liaison between the science world and their home community. The author also gives many statistics that showcase how underrepresented minorities are in the science community such as that the mere 13 % of the US population is black and they only represent 3% of rewarded doctoral science awards in 2008. The author assumes the reader knows the underrepresented groups in America because he never lists them, rather states them.

The article "Increasing the Representation" claims that minority representation is “necessary to positively impact the health outcomes of an increasingly diverse US population, and to develop and sustain a pool of culturally competent educators, researchers, and practitioners.” The author provides the main reasons why minorities are underrepresented. One was that they were not adequately prepared for science knowledge due to community problems and not that many are applying. The author validates their claim by stating that also states with help of more requirements the number of minorities being accepted tot universities and receiving science degrees is steadily increasing.

I agree more so with the article "Increasing Representation." The same opinions of the author who wrote Increasing Representation are shared by a lot of members in the UNC community. The issue of Minority representation is a prevalent issue at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Minorities only represent about 25 %. There are many programs launched to increase Minority requirement at the predominately science based university. Being that I am a minority on this campus, I agree with both articles that they should be more focused on.


Works Cited

"Invest to Diversify" <http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v471/n7336/full/471005b.html>.
"Increasing the Representation of Underrepresented Minority Groups in US Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy" <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2254239/>