Minority Groups in Engineering Tapping Their Untapped Potential

This paper analyzes many of the social, economic, and educational impedances that have retarded the progress of minorities in their efforts to enter higher education generally and engineering in particular. The author argues that now is the time for the professional engineering schools, the professional societies, and industry to look beyond those social, economic, and educational impedances and, through their combined efforts, solve the problems of how potentially capable minority youth can enter the engineering field. The opportunity is available and the road is open to providing broader educational opportunities for segments of our population with great untapped potential.