It is clear to most economists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers that America’s ability to remain competitive in an increasingly global economy requires innovation in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). These innovations have the potential to solve domestic issues related to health, infrastructure, energy, transportation, housing, etc. Globally, these innovations will determine the trajectory of international policies related to climate, public health, food production, and clean water—all of which will benefit this nation and the world.
Recent data from Silicon Valley – widely regarded the “technology and innovation capital” – indicate that America faces significant challenges with regard to workforce diversity in STEM-related professions. Among the top seven technology giants, African Americans constitute 2% to 7% of the workforce, with not all of those employees working in STEM-related positions. While women fare better, they represent only 30% to 40% of the workforce, although they are approximately 50% of the population. It is important to note that many of those positions in Silicon Valley are outside of the STEM fields, occurring in areas such as retail and sales. The data confirm widespread concerns expressed over the last two decades regarding the limited number of women and people of color entering STEM professions. Recognizing the challenges, some companies have already invested in bringing STEM programs to schools in communities of color and developing mentoring programs to support diversification of the workforce. In the meantime, there have been few documented improvements in the data – anecdotal or otherwise – regarding the Silicon Valley workforce.
There are many theories as to why there is such a lack of diversity with regard to gender, race, and ethnicity in STEM professions. Some easily point to the lack of women and people of color graduating with degrees in relevant fields, while others say that the small number of the aforementioned populations entering STEM-related fields is because of the perception that STEM coursework is “hard.” In addition to this, recent data indicate that although the number of African American women graduating with STEM degrees has increased slightly over the past decade, they often end up in non-STEM related jobs or spend only short periods in STEM-related positions before going to work in other fields. Less than 1% of African American women complete PhDs in STEM, a pre-requisite for high-level, decision-making positions in technology companies. Some people believe that the lack of STEM workforce diversity originates much earlier than college and that its roots are in elementary classrooms where bias, racism, and stereotypes limit students of color and girls from exploring, engaging, and excelling in STEM curricula. In addition, there are few visible role models and mentors for girls and African Americans that demonstrate interest or capacity to excel at STEM education.
Strategies to increase STEM education for girls and children of color are underway via programs like Start-Up Middle School Summer Institute out of Howard University’s Middle School for Mathematics and Science (www.startupmiddleschool.org). Through the program, students between the ages of 9 and 14 have opportunities to develop mobile applications that solve social problems. Another example is Black Girls Code which provides education for social entrepreneurship and STEM with the goal to increase the number of women in the digital space (www.blackgirlscode.com).
While these programs represent increased awareness of the need for African Americans and girls to begin the journey to STEM careers through education opportunities, there must be complementary efforts to support recruitment and hiring of these graduates from STEM programs. The path into Silicon Valley technology firms is heavily dependent upon relationships and networks that, by design, are most supportive of White male STEM graduates. To open those networks to greater diversity, Silicon Valley must invest in making STEM education programs accessible and affordable for girls, women, and people of color.
Elected officials can support STEM education and workforce diversity by focusing funding on schools and programs dedicated to STEM while creating incentives for technology companies that demonstrate a strong interest in diversifying their workforce through targeted recruitment and hiring. Efforts related to expanding STEM education and diversifying the Silicon Valley workforce have the potential to engage women and people of color in domestic and global innovation that not only supports problem-solving, but has the potential to create ladders of success and wealth for generations to come. It is time to move beyond being consumers of technology to being creators and purveyors of technologies that will change the world for the better.
