Recruitment

ORAU Seeks Out the Next Generation of Science and Technology Leaders

In recent years, the United States has continued to lose its competitive edge in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) arenas. In fact, the White House signed into law the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, And Science Act (America COMPETES), in 2007 to keep America’s scientific workforce competitive on the global stage.

As the second component of our Research-Based Approach, Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) leads an aggressive recruitment campaign to encourage students, teachers and faculty to participate in one of its 150 science education programs.

Just last year, we assisted more than 4,200 participants from more than 900 U.S. and foreign colleges and universities in identifying internship, scholarship, fellowship or research appointments that best suited their research career goals. Those appointments involve more than $106M in research stipends, nearly 2,600 domestic and foreign trips, and sponsorship of more than 500 immigration statuses for foreign nationals.

Whether you need a nationwide search with as many minorities as possible, or you are more focused on local recruitment with not as much emphasis on diversity, we offer a wealth of resources, including:

• Partnerships with professional associations, student associations and chapters, colleges and universities, ORAU member universities and campus career centers
• Attendance at numbers of professional associations, meetings and conferences
• Advertising placements within journals, magazines and direct mail
• A strong Web presence
• An in-house bilingual, multicultural diversity recruitment team
• Proven experience fostering personal relationships with key individuals at colleges and universities

As shown in the table below, ORAU consistently recruits a higher percentage of women and minorities to its science and engineering programs than the representation of these groups in the science and education (S&E) university enrollment.

Participant Category	Percent in National S&E Student Population	Percent Among ORAU Program Participants During FY 2008
Undergraduate Students:
Female	38.8%	44.5%
Under-represented Minority	14.7%	17.5%
Graduate Students:
Female	34.8%	48.1%
Under-represented Minority	10.7%	14.1%