LaMont Toliver also sees a problem with what he calls “self-doubt.” He is director of the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Meyerhoff Scholars Program, a national leader in increasing STEM diversity.”Advanced placement courses, calculus, chemistry, these are hard courses,” Toliver says. “Some of them believe that they just can’t do it. . Then you couple that with a lack of encouragement.”
“If we were more supportive as a community, as parents and providing guidance and mentoring at an early age, then more African-American students would
do it.”
Money is another factor in the STEM disparity. It takes many years after college to get the advanced degrees needed to become leaders in math and science fields – university professors, directors of research labs, heads of engineering departments and some black students can’t afford to wait that long.
Before one recent New Year’s Eve, Smith, the Johns Hopkins student, was debating whether to purchase a bus ticket from Baltimore to New York City to hang out with friends. It was a tough decision – the ticket cost $37.