20A - LABOR TECHNICAL SIKLLS TRAINNING GRANT

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DOL SGA- DFA- PY -10 -13 Orange County Bridge to Engineering undergraduate degree in science or engineering disciplines, the number of underrepresented minori- ties would need to quadruple or even•quintuple.i3 Women are also underrepresented in STEM majors, a trend that starts in high school. Of the 1.39 million average PSAT takers each year from 2003 -2007, only 2% of girls stated interest in an engineering major, compared to over 15% of boys. At Canada College, which has Worked with San Francisco State to help develop the Bridge to Engineering model, among students with declared STEM majors, incoming Mexican American and African American students have the highest per- centages of students placing into Pre - algebra, indicating that they need additional preparation in math to enable them to enter and succeed in calculus at the college level. According to Canada engi- neering professor Dr. Amelito Enriquez, an OC B2E instructional design team lead; "Most STEM majors require two years of courses that include calculus and physics. A student who starts at Pre - algebra has an additional two and a half years of mathematics before they are ready for Calculus. Hence, for Mexican American students at Canada who want to major in en- gineering, 34.5% of them would need at least three and a half years, 24.1 %would need at least four years, and 31 % of them would need at least four and a half years in a CC hefote they can even transfer to a four. -year university." The burdens of an additional 2.5 years of developmental math - which many students find humiliating and discouraging - are not conducive to underrepresented minorities' success in STEM majors, The Dean of Business and Engineering at Saddleback College says, "At Saddleback College over the past several years, on average 70% ofentedpg students are deficientin xmadi or English and are not able to take a transferable, college level course in either subject without prior remedia- tion." 'Tracking students through traditional developmental math classes takes too long and loses too many students along the way.' There is a clear need for a pathway that combines accelerated math with support services to retain students and promote transfer to four -year engineering programs. 3 "U.S. Must Involve Underrepresented Minorities in Science and Engineering To Maintain Competitive Edge," News from the National Academies, Sept 30, 2010, hM;// www8. nationalacademies. org/ onpine ws /newsitem.aspx ?ltecosd1D =12984 accessed 3/22/11 4 Hern, K., 2010, ExponentialAttrition and the Promise ofAcceleratiat In Developmental English and Math, Chabot College. Page 4 of 20 20A -55