The Bell Curve is a pesky thing.
Always looking for excuses.
Math be racist
The intro course is a tough comprehensive overview.
weeds out the chaff who cannot hack the upper level courses
So, if we just automatically give high grades to women and minorities, even if they don’t deserve it, this will increase their chances of getting a STEM degree?
Awesome.
Evidently the goal is that every cross-sectional identity group have the exact same representation in all aspects of life or it is proof that straight, white males are bad.
Sounds like the solution they are proposing is to allow minority and women students to progress directly to advanced courses without those pesky introductory courses.
Notice again, glaringly, no mention of YELLOW people. (”Asian”, whatever.)
LOTs of yellow and Indian people in STEM - how are they doing?
Wouldn’t want to mention that some “minorities” do very well, better than whites, despite evil whitey rigging everything.
So, maybe, minority students should get to skip the intro courses. Then they get to fail at the higher level.
So, are they saying that grading standards should be different for different races? Sounds like another left wing racist practice - they are stating publically that they do not think that certain races can hack it.
Sorry, I’ve taught STEM subjects at undergrad and grad level and folks of all backgrounds have done well.
Many, many moons ago I took college level introductory calculus, chemistry, physics courses in high school.
High schools don’t offer those any more...?
If a student gets a low grade in an introductory STEM course, there’s a really good chance that the student has no business in a STEM curriculum in the first place.
What’s interesting is this crap only goes one way. No one is looking for areas where white males are underrepresented and trying desperately to increase white male participation. If only 30% of stem degrees are going to women, it only follows that women are WAY over represented in other degree programs, like sociology. Where’s the concern about “equity” there?
Poor performance in introductory math and science courses suggests one may not be suited for a math or science career, therefore, racism. Do I have this right?
We used to call those weed out courses.
If a student couldn’t do the basics, they won’t do any better in the upper level courses.
“Being assigned a low grade”
There is that word again.
Assigned.
Granted, it is more subjective than what genitalia you have (or gene), but it isn’t just to flunk the colored people (minus yellow).
Time to repeal the laws of physics.
Something I’ll never forget. First semester sophomore year. The first test in the “gateway” course to an EE degree. Semiconductor physics. It was hard. When the papers came back I received a 54. Thoughts of what other career options did I have, maybe I couldn’t cut this. Now everything was graded on a curve and the professor proceeds to announce class average was 17. Instantly I’m transported to nirvana. Many around me never finished the semester. Clearly by design.
Basically this just demonstrates the strengths of the various races in my opinion. It’s why basketball and football teams are mostly black even though nobody would say that they are racially prejudiced against whites or asians.
Fact is, the races are literally different beyond just skin color and they actually bring different strengths and weaknesses to the table.
Those that earn degrees in STEM will never reflect the ethnic makeup of US society in the same way that professional basketball and football will never reflect the US ethnic makeup.