Under-represented Minorities and Geoscience Departments

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Date updated: 2008-09-26
Data Brief 2008-012
Written by Dallas D. Rhodes for AGI, September 2008

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The states with the lowest percentage of under-represented minorities have relatively small populations with more than 50% of the people living in rural areas. The under-represented population includes Black and African American, American Indian and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and people identified with “Two or More Races”.

Percentage of under-represented population. Source: Table 4: Estimates of the Population by Race and Hispanic Origin for the United STates: July 1, 2007 (SC-EST2007-04); Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau, May 1, 2008.

States with the highest percentage of colleges and universities offering degrees in the geosciences are largely rural and (with the exception of Wisconsin) have relatively few institutions of higher education. Wyoming is the only state with 100% of schools offering a degree in the geosciences, but it has only one university granting baccalaureate degrees. States where under-represented minorities make up more than 35% of the population typically have a larger number of 4-year degree-granting institutions. However, less than half of those schools offer geoscience degrees.

Percentage of 4-year schools with geoscience degree programs. Sources: AGI Directory of Gesocience Departments; Solutions for Our Future (http://tsp.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage)

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