Nearly any national or state document concerning STEM education reform within the past five years highlights the urgent need to increase and diversify the STEM workforce. In explaining the problem and the need to improve the public's perception and understanding of engineering, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) discusses the disparities in gender and ethnic diversity in the engineering community in their Changing the Conversation campaign. These efforts to improve access to engineering education for women and underrepresented groups and to vitalize the profession with greater diversity is nonetheless, often framed within the utilitarian context of strengthening U.S. economic competitiveness and workforce preparation. Such narratives pervade STEM Education reform movements, as exemplified in landmark initiatives like the Next Generation Science Standards, the development of which is predicated upon promoting America' ability to compete in the global market and lead in technological innovation. However, confounding equity issues with economic utility not only narrowly frames equity efforts and the many purposes of education, but as Gutstein aptly comments, "But to discuss equity from the perspective of U.S. economic competition is to diminish its moral imperative and urgency" (p. 38).
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