Why it's important
The field of public health embraces diversity to strengthen the workforce. Different people bring different perspectives that often result in more effective and inclusive health solutions. This is vital for addressing complex public health challenges and promoting equity across communities.
Developing a more diverse public health workforce begins with attracting future generations to public health career paths through STEM education. Our programs and resources engage students of all ages in real-world public health issues. They are meant to enhance student understanding of how to keep communities healthy and inspires them to explore public health careers.
Strategies
We aim to foster educational excellence in STEM for K-12 students and college and graduate students of all backgrounds.
Our K–12 resources for students and teachers focus on using public health examples from everyday life. This helps students apply STEM concepts and skills. Using diverse scenarios and characters also allows students to see someone like them in public health.
For grade 6–12 students, we offer STEM-based camps, trainings, activities, and apps. For 6–12 teachers, we also offer training and resources to bring public health into their classroom. These resources can help build health literacy and essential STEM skills. They also help show different pathways to a public health career that are accessible and meaningful.
For students in college and graduate school, we offer internships and trainings, and fellowships for after they graduate. All fellowships focus on recruiting diverse candidates. Many programs also offer trainings on health equity in public health practice.
There are also programs for students interested in promoting health equity and eliminating health disparities. These include the CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars (CUPS) Program and the Dr. James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases RISE Fellowship (Ferguson Fellowship).
Learn more about CUPS/Ferguson programs:
- For a comprehensive list of CDC’s efforts to foster diversity in STEM and public health, download the STEM Resources at CDC