Before the pandemic, Pew Research analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational employment showed that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) jobs were projected to outpace employment growth through 2029. It was 9.2% for STEM jobs vs. 3.7% overall. However, the study found that Hispanic workers are highly underrepresented in the STEM workforce.
Hispanics have earned a growing share of STEM degrees since 2010. But the percentage of Latino/Latina students awarded a degree in a STEM field (12%) is below their share of earning bachelor’s degrees in any field (15%).
Recently, the Research Center conducted a new analysis of government data. Their findings show Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and people who identify with two or more racial groups account for 3% of STEM workers.
Hispanic workers represent 8% of the STEM workforce, lower than their 17% share of the total employed. The percentage of Hispanics is similarly low (8% to 9%) across STEM job clusters.
The information technology (IT) career cluster, for example, has careers such as hardware and software engineers, programmers, computer support specialists, information security analysts, database administrators, web admins, and video game designers.
The manufacturing career cluster includes sample careers such as mechanical engineers, electronics engineers, automotive mechanics, and avionics technicians.
Pew researchers said that 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.
During the 2017-2018 school year, Hispanic adults earned 9% of STEM master’s degrees awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, smaller than their 11% share of all master’s degrees. Hispanic students earned just 6% of research doctorates and 7% of professional doctorates in STEM.
According to the study, “STEM Jobs See Uneven Progress in Increasing Gender, Racial and Ethnic Diversity” Hispanics make up only 8% of STEM workers but 17% of total employment across occupations.
Native Americans, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders, and people who identify with two or more racial groups account for 3% of STEM workers.
The share of Hispanics earning a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field increased from 8% in 2010 to 12% in 2018. However, Hispanic enrollment in college has declined since the coronavirus outbreak, casting doubt on whether these gains will continue.
Even with gains since 2010, Hispanic adults remain less likely than White, Asian, and Black adults to earn a college degree and are underrepresented among STEM degree recipients.
Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and people who identify with more than one racial group earned 4% of bachelor’s degrees and 3% of advanced degrees in STEM fields.
Among Hispanic graduates in 2018, women earn majorities of STEM degrees at most levels, though there is a gender balance among those earning STEM research doctorates (50% women, 50% men).
The typical Hispanic worker in STEM earns about $65,000, or 83% of the typical White worker in STEM. Here too, the gap has widened: In 2016, the Hispanic-to-White pay gap in the STEM workforce was 85%.
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