In September 2021, Nafeesa Owens, while working with the White House's Interagency Working Group on Inclusion in STEM and the Subcommittee on Federal Coordination in STEM Education, was instrumental in crafting policies that force-feed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into STEM and Education fields.

They produced a guide for federal agencies that recommended adopting left-wing, radical DEI practices over focusing on advancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics through merit-based hiring. Instead of enhancing scientific integrity and innovation, they aimed to fulfill some arbitrary diversity quota, further politicizing education and science with their woke agenda.

“Recommendations:

Based on the compendium of practices in this document, the Interagency Working Group on Inclusion in STEM developed the following policy recommendations to help increase the recruitment, retention, achievement, and advancement of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the Federal STEM workforce and STEM programs in institutions of higher education that receive Federal funding.

Definitions

✓ Use the definitions of evidence-based, emerging, and promising practices to help explain the levels of best practices that are adopted by each agency. These definitions will clarify what works and why a practice is adopted for a specific group, while also substantiating expectations of effectiveness.

Barriers to Participation in STEM Programs and Pathways

✓ Identify barriers to access and participation in STEM programs offered by each agency and develop strategies to reduce or eliminate them by partnering with other agencies, institutions, and professional organizations. Create a comprehensive plan to highlight and address, by providing incentives for participants and grantees to demonstrate progress.

✓ Focus on one or more institutional barriers to STEM such as policies, workplace climate, differential compensation package, data, and peer-to-peer interactions. Require program participants and grant recipients to spell out how they will reduce or eliminate institutional barriers to diversity in STEM.

✓ Focus on one or more individualized barriers to participation in STEM such as mentoring, support systems, discrimination, perception of STEM programs, stereotypes and stereotype threat, bias, and STEM identity. Design programs to address these elements and constructs that impact students’ participation and retention in STEM.

✓ Focus on one or more barrier impacting STEM participation for individuals with disabilities. Develop policies and practices to ensure representation of individuals with disabilities in leadership and decision-making bodies to ensure that accessibility, recruitment and retention issues are addressed.

Key Areas for Diversity and Inclusion

✓ Develop a pathways approach to STEM academic and career programs at each agency. Allow for flexibility with multiple entry points that enable participants to build on academic achievement and research expertise at different levels and life stages.

✓ Identify barriers to access and participation in STEM programs offered by each agency and develop strategies to reduce or eliminate them by partnering with other agencies, institutions, and professional organizations.

✓ Expand recruitment for Federal jobs, work-based learning opportunities, scholarships and fellowships at Minority-Serving Institutions and institutions with high levels of diversity through face-to-face and virtual outreach efforts. Create authority for Federal scholars and fellows to be hired noncompetitively into Federal service.

✓ Set goals for outcomes and measurable impacts related to recruitment and retention efforts for employment to increase diversity of the STEM workforce.

✓ Provide opportunities for leadership training and skills development that will support professional advancement. Create a plan for leadership and advancement that addresses barriers impacting groups underrepresented in STEM. Take advantage of existing Federal programs or create leadership development efforts at each agency to support diversity efforts.”

 (Source)

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