Broadening Participation in STEM Education Act - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to implement or expand research-based reforms in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to recruit and retain minority students who are underrepresented in STEM fields.
Authorizes the use of such grants on reforms that include: (1) bridge, cohort, tutoring, or mentoring programs; (2) outreach to minority elementary and secondary school students; (3) faculty development and recognition programs; (4) efforts to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in the full gamut of STEM disciplines offered by IHEs; (5) efforts to increase and support their participation in research; and (6) support for the participation of minority graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in instructional or assessment activities at primarily undergraduate IHEs.
Requires each grant to include an education research component so that reform efforts can be evaluated and, if shown to be effective, replicated to improve the participation of minority students in STEM fields at other schools.
Requires the Director of the NSF to award competitive grants to IHEs to develop innovative reform efforts designed to increase the recruitment, retention, and advancement of individuals from underrepresented minority groups in academic STEM careers.