The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has announced grants totaling more than $60 million over six years to 104 colleges and universities as part of an initiative to help build capacity for inclusion in the sciences for students from historically excluded ethnic and racial groups.

HHMI’s Inclusive Excellence 3 initiative is the institute’s third round of investments targeting students from underrepresented backgrounds in their first year of college—where the majority of departures from STEM programs occur—to engender a more inclusive environment and encourage students to remain in the sciences. Of the nearly one million students who enter college annually intending to study a STEM field, more than half will not complete a STEM bachelor’s degree. According to HHMI, those who leave STEM tend to be students who are the first in their family to attend college, students who begin at community colleges, and students from historically excluded ethnic and racial groups.

“Sustaining advances in diversity and inclusion requires a scientific culture that is centered on equity,” said HHMI vice president of science leadership and culture Blanton Tolbert. “In science education, increasing the number of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds must go hand in hand with creating inclusive learning environments in which everyone can thrive.”

For a complete list of recipient schools, see the HHMI website.

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