The STEM workforce (science, technology, engineering and math) has grown rapidly in recent decades, and is projected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to see continued growth in the coming years. Black and Hispanic workers remain underrepresented in STEM jobs compared with their share of the U.S. workforce, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. government data. The representation of women varies significantly across the job clusters that make up the STEM workforce: In health-related jobs, women are overrepresented compared with their 47% share of the overall workforce, while they remain starkly underrepresented in computing and engineering jobs. The prospects for increasing diversity in the STEM workforce are closely tied to the educational system. Even with dramatic growth in the number of STEM graduates from U.S. colleges and universities at all degree levels since 2010, there is little indication that diversity in related jobs will shift substantially in the near term. While there is  variation across STEM jobs clusters and degree fields, these data illustrate the long-tail efforts needed to make substantial gains in diversity. Using survey reports from a representative sample of STEM workers in 2017, we will close with a look “behind these data” at common perspectives for Black, Hispanic and Asian adults working in STEM and their views about how to increase diversity.

A look at diversity and underrepresentation in workforce and training programs in STEM

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.