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Recent research indicates that ever larger numbers of researchers are needed to sustain the current pace of scientific and technological  innovation. This finding suggests that interventions that increase opportunities in science and technology disciplines may accelerate innovation.

Other work reports that scientific publications and patents are becoming less innovative over time, but that more diverse research teams are more likely to produce innovation. These findings suggest that interventions that not only increase but also broaden opportunities in science and technology disciplines may be even more effective at accelerating innovation.

We currently lack reliable evidence about cost-effective and scalable interventions that can be widely implemented on university campuses to increase and broaden opportunity in critical STEM fields. Yet recent pilot trials suggest that these interventions exist, including interventions that provide outreach, mentoring, and advising support (Bayer et al 2019, Ginther et al 2020, Porter and Serra 2020, Canaan and Mouganie 2021, Ginther and Na 2021, Bostwick and Weinberg 2022, Shan 2024).

We need to replicate these pilot trials across multiple campuses and scale them to larger samples to assess cost-effectiveness at scale. We need to develop and test other interventions that may also be successful at increasing and broadening opportunity in critical STEM degree programs. We need to ensure that effective interventions are implemented widely on university campuses by provosts, deans, and departmental chairs.

 In partnership with the 86 campuses in the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences, the Social Science Research Council is leading an initiative to grow the rigorous evidence base for cost-effective and scalable interventions that increase and broaden opportunity in STEM fields, and to work with university leaders to ensure implementation of successful interventions. By increasing and broadening opportunities in STEM disciplines, we can potentially accelerate the pace of scientific and technological innovation.

Broadening Innovation Opportunities

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