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This is disingenuous: there is no "DEI" component of NSF proposals. There is a Broader Impacts section which is mandated by law - the America Competes Act of 20
by strangeloops85 2y ago
This is disingenuous: there is no "DEI" component of NSF proposals. There is a Broader Impacts section which is mandated by law - the America Competes Act of 2010, which congress passed. https://www.congress.gov/111/plaws/publ358/PLAW-111publ358.pdf https://www.congress.gov/111/plaws/publ358/PLAW-111publ358.p... It states that:
GOALS.—The Foundation shall apply a Broader Impacts
Review Criterion to achieve the following goals:
(1) Increased economic competitiveness of the United
States.
(2) Development of a globally competitive STEM workforce.
(3) Increased participation of women and underrepresented
minorities in STEM.
(4) Increased partnerships between academia and industry.
(5) Improved pre-K–12 STEM education and teacher
development.
(6) Improved undergraduate STEM education.
(7) Increased public scientific literacy.
(8) Increased national security.
That's it. I've won many NSF proposals and have never talked about DEI. Instead we talk about outreach work we do with local schools, our involving undergraduate students in research who would not otherwise be able to volunteer their time, and of course the economic impacts of working on these topics.
An executive order cannot override the law authorizing the National Science Foundation and its activities. We are, for now, a country of laws.
- jjtheblunt 2y agoIs the item (3) what the parent comment refers to?
- strangeloops85 2y agoWho knows? The executive orders read like they were written by children and don't clearly define what they mean by "DEIA". But NSF's authorization is from Congress. Unless congress passes a law rescinding this as a part of what counts as broader impacts, or the Supreme Court rules that increasing participation of underrepresented groups is unconstitutional (by precedent it is certainly not!), then NSF cannot simply change the definition of broader impacts.
- nickff 2y agoNSF is an independent agency, and the degree of control over it which a President can legitimately exercise is disputed, but presidents from both parties have treated the independent agencies as being subject to executive orders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_United_States_government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_Un...
- ahmeneeroe-v2 2y agoWhich article of the Constitution describes "independent agencies"? I'm only aware of: Executive, Legislative, Judicial, and State agencies.
- dpe82 2y ago[flagged]
- ahmeneeroe-v2 2y agoGuilty. Bummer that the charge isn't the social exile it used to be :P
- nickff 2y agoI believe that Independent Agencies were created by the Progressives of the early 20th century. They were subsequently found to be constitutional, through somewhat dubious reasoning, and it seems like they’re now too big to fail.
- ahmeneeroe-v2 2y agoThank you for the thoughtful response. Exactly what I was referring to, they are extra-Constitutional at best. And now the executive is rightfully taking them back under control
- jltsiren 2y agoI think a better approach would be to rewrite the Constitution, taking into account what has been learned over the centuries. The executive branch should become more like a bureaucracy and less like a monarchy. In particular, department heads should have a degree of independence from the President, and it should only be possible to remove them before the normal term expires by impeachment or if the President and the Senate agree.
- chriskanan 2y agoA recent Major Research Instrumentation proposal that I submitted to NSF had this required section in the Broader Impacts section [1], where I've pasted the text from the instructions: Institutional Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion - Using no more than one paragraph, describe indicators of institutional commitment to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) within the awardee/subawardee institution(s). [1] https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/mri-major-research-instrumentation-program/nsf23-519/solicitation https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/mri-major-research...