Federal Government 



The Federal Government is the 

 largest single employer of scien- 

 tists and engineers. It finances 

 one-half of all research and devel- 

 opment performed in the United 

 States. It has a special respon- 

 sibility to be a pacesetter. The 

 Task Force respectfully requests 

 the Federal agencies to : 



Action: Use their research and 

 development programs to bring 

 about a more diverse, world-class 

 science and engineering 

 workforce. Programs should affect 

 preK-12 education, higher educa- 

 tion, research and development 

 awards, and employment. 



Action: Collect and maintain 

 data to evaluate the participation 

 of minorities, women, and per- 

 sons with disabilities in their 

 research and development pro- 

 grams. 



Action: Continue to hire and 

 advance talented scientists and 

 engineers, including those from 

 underrepresented groups. 



Action: Provide dependent care 

 services to all employees. 



Action: Open their laboratory 

 facilities to provide hands-on 

 experiences to students and 

 teachers, especially those tradi- 

 tionally underrepresented in sci- 

 ence and engineering. 



Action: Establish a National Re- 

 search Scholars Program in Sci- 

 ence and Engineering which en- 

 ables high school students to have 

 early research experiences and go 

 on to earn bachelors' degrees in 

 science and engineering. This 

 should link with support for 

 graduate study and offer a clear 

 path to the Ph.D. It should be 

 tailored to attract minority and 

 women students and students 

 with disabilities, and to encourage 

 more students to become mathe- 

 matics and science teachers. 



Action: Provide stable and sub- 

 stantial support for effective inter- 

 vention programs that graduate 

 quality scientists and engineers 

 who are members of underrepre- 

 sented groups. 



Action: Encourage employees 

 and retirees to donate time and 

 expertise to their local schools. 



Action: Establish a competitive 

 grants program for school districts 

 to implement locally-developed 

 plans to improve education in 

 science and mathematics for 

 underrepresented groups. 



Action: Expand Project Head 

 Start so that all eligible children 

 are served. 



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