EDUCATION CONT’D
and engineering students, with top grades, entered the private sector overwhelmingly rather than attending graduate school in pursuit of a master’s or Ph.D.
She understood the attraction. Corporations groomed STEM students with job fairs and paid summer internships which often lead to employment after graduation. By contrast, there were no comparable STEM research- oriented programs that cultivated and inspired students to attend STEM graduate school.
So in 1999 she created HUSEM. The university-wide multidisciplinary program unites nine CEACS and the College of Arts and Sciences departments to promote academic achievement and increase the minority STEM representation. Since then more than 650 students have gone through the HUSEM program.
The program’s objectives are to attract “exceptionally qualified high school students into STEM disciplines and providing a seamless direct path to the Ph.D.”
Three related events assisted Fleming’s vision. She
convinced Howard professors to mentor undergrads, who receive course credit, in their research labs. The National Science Foundation gave HUSEM a $3 million grant to fund undergrad research, and Howard professors found out that including undergraduates in their future research funding proposals was mutually beneficial.
All of which Fleming says attracted exceptional STEM students and made it easy for them to make informed decisions about accepting paid research positions at Howard.
She says that, “many former HUSEM students now attend graduate school. Two are current NSF grad fellows at the University of California at San Diego and that the students know that most schools that accept them in a STEM discipline will also provide total tuition support. They may have to be students for a few more years, but the delayed gratification is worth it.”
GEAR UP brings Howard to the world and vice versa
Fleming created GEAR UP (Global Education, Awareness and
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WOMENOFCOLOR | FALL 2014
www.womenofcolor.net
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