SHPE - Fall 2008 - (Page 24)

BROWSER America’s Competitiveness Assessed Asians and African Americans. IBM has several programs to address these issues. ¡TraduceloAhora! is an automatic two-way, English-Spanish, e-mail translation and web translation software that IBM provides to all U.S. schools at no cost to help Spanish speaking parents better communicate with teachers. IBM has also committed to expanding the MentorPlace program to focus on school districts with significant Hispanic populations and matching students with IBM employees who can serve as their online mentors. It also plans to expand its cascade mentoring program, an Internetbased system that enables professional mentors, university students and K-12 students to engage in a three-way mentoring relationship through secure online discussions on past academic experiences and exploration of future goals and opportunities. The program, which recently completed its third year in Tucson, Arizona, involved IBM employees, the University of Arizona SHPE Chapter and students from two high schools. IBM plans to expand the program to at least three universities in California, New York and Texas. IBM also will donate 1,000 KidSmart units at early childhood centers that support the Hispanic community in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. It has also committed to expanding the Reading Companion grant program to increase literacy among interested U.S. school districts, especially those with significant Hispanic populations. ■ Business leaders examined recent reports and discussed ways to increase Hispanic STEM participation. In May, IBM was joined by ExxonMobil, Lockheed Martin and Univision in convening an inaugural summit titled “America’s Competitiveness: Hispanic Participation in Technology Careers.” It united 150 leaders in business, education, government and community organizations to examine ways of increasing the number of Hispanic students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math in the United States. Among the attendees were SHPE President Diana Gomez, CEO Enrique Gomez, Director of Programs and External Affairs Rafaela Schwan and Region VII Vice President Conchita Jimenez. The magnitude of the nation’s STEM career gap is most apparent in the field of engineering, where the need for talent is increasing at three times the rate of other professions. This demand is countered by trends that demonstrate fewer American students are entering STEM-related studies. Moreover, while demographics indicate that the Hispanic population is expected to constitute 25 percent of the overall U.S. population by mid century, 24 percent of Hispanic students are dropping out of high school. Participants at the summit examined new reports commissioned by the IBM International Foundation from respected research organizations like The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) and The Public Agenda, which outlined the challenges and opportunities to the nation’s Hispanic community in terms of pursing STEM careers. Among the key findings of The Public Agenda study, “A Matter of Trust,” nearly half of Hispanic parents say that students aren’t being taught enough math and science, and most Hispanic young adults worry about affording college. The TRPI report, “STEM Professions: Opportunities and Challenges for Latinos,” noted that Hispanics also suffer from a worse gender gap in STEM careers compared with E-Week in Review Every year, professional and student SHPE chapters celebrate National Engineers Week by conducting various types of community service events to heighten STEM awareness in the local Hispanic communities. What follows are highlights of some of local chapter efforts. SHPE-Skyline students visited two middle schools to send a message: engineers change the world, save lives, protect the earth and make a difference. They were introduced to software and mechanical engineering basics through video games and robots. Some students got to ride on a hover board made of household items. Other SHPE members volunteered weekly at two afterschool programs that focused on math skill building for middle school students, 24 Hands-on E-Week activities show that engineering is creative and fun. Maureen Plainfield Youth Adelante and Science Corps. SHPE-Cal Poly San Luis Obispo members conducted panel discussions at several local high schools. The students were introduced to the various engineering disciplines, the types of work each field entails and the necessary analytical, creative and technical skills they require. To demonstrate engineering’s relevancy, they also discussed three current events related to engineering. Finally the SHPE members shared their personal reasons for choosing to study engineering, their challenges, what it’s like to be a Cal Poly engineering student and what they plan to do upon SHPE ❘ Fall 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SHPE - Fall 2008

SHPE - Fall 2008 Contents President's Letter From the Vice President Calendar of Events National Board of Directors The Great '08: Chapter Leaders Learn to Spread 'SHPE Fever' Browser National Retreat Provides a Redefinition An Engineer and a Politician Capitalizing on Engineering Talent Grupos de Afinidad A Focused Approach to Getting the Job You Really Want SHPE Conference 2008 IPC Update Programs & Services Keeping Warm with 'Yuper' Familia Spirit Promise of Spring Recruit, Engage and Retain Regional Student Representatives Regional Roundup Advertisers Index

SHPE - Fall 2008

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