UC Berkeley News: STEM Has A Diversity Problem; CDSS Wants To Help Solve It

Press release from UC Berkeley News:

February 21, 2022

Kelechi Nnebedum fell in love with science and technology at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, Calif. The biology behind mental health disorders fascinated her, writing code captivated her and the engineering feats of places like NASA awed her.

But when she transferred to UC Berkeley to be a data science major and walked into classes with only two other girls and no other Black students, she felt intimidated. Though she said that everyone’s been welcoming, she found it daunting to ask questions in rooms like that.

“I grew up and went to community college in an area that is predominantly people of color. I never felt alienated in my STEM classes because I was just surrounded by people that looked like me,”
said Nnebedum. “It's definitely been a little bit of a culture shock.”

This press release was produced by UC Berkeley News. The views expressed here are the author’s own.