Pathways to Teacher STEM Certification in Texas: A Case for Addressing the Minority Teacher Shortage

Abstract

For the United States to remain globally competitive, policymakers, researchers, and administrators emphasize the need for a highly skilled and diverse STEM workforce. As such, the US education system must recruit high-quality, diverse, STEM-certified teachers to improve STEM learning outcomes and career pathways for all students, including historically underrepresented minority students. Increased recruitment and retention of minoritized STEM teachers through alternative certification pathways will dissipate the shortage of qualified STEM teachers. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine trends in STEM teacher certification by race or ethnicity to address minoritized teacher shortages in Texas, the second largest education authority in the US. The study analyzed 67,629 teacher certification records from the Texas Education Agency’s State Board for Educator Certification. Results revealed disparities in Race or Ethnicity among STEM teachers that could dispel the teacher shortage gap if parity were achieved among White, Hispanic, and Black STEM teachers.