Bureau of Labor Statistics

11/25/14

Males with bigger hippocampus in their brain tend to be smarter than males with smaller hippocampus in their brain. While girls with smaller hippocampus tend to be smarter (graynb). Scientifically proving that girls and boys are equal, so women have the potential to be just as good scientist as males. (graynb)  Rather there are other factors that hold women back from obtaining jobs, especially in the science field. .  “The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only 10% of the 2 million scientists and engineers in the US are women.” Although such uneven numbers can be unappealing and hinder diversity for institutions/companies, it should dictate how they hire candidates. One identified cause to this problem is that schools are failing to foster interest in the subjects of math and science among girls. The staggering polarization of males in the math & science fields compared to females could be a result of females simply not being interested. Or more sensibly, it could be because of the societal, cultural and economic injustices a woman is more likely to face. A woman may still be responsible for more demanding day to day house roles, as well as economic injustices such as the gender pay gap.

Contrary to what many might expect, Hispanics and African students heading to college are just as fascinated as white students in majoring in science and engineering. But these are difficult majors that many students decide to transfer to an easier major. Significantly, Hispanic and African students tend to abandon their science or engineering major at much higher rates than whites.  “The earliest of these studies — titled "The Role of Ethnicity in Choosing and Leaving Science in Highly Selective Institutions" — was published in 1996 by a team of scholars led by Dartmouth psychologist Rogers Elliott. It found that the single most important cause for minority attrition from science at the selective institutions studied was the "relatively low preparation of black aspirants to science in these schools."” (nationalaffairs.com).   So it seems that minorities are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting an education to set them up for success in the science field in college.  White males seem to have the upper hand in all areas.  Most white males receive better financial support as they are most likely in the middle class.  Whereas, Hispanic and black populations are concentrated in areas which are also victim to poverty.   Thus their funding for education is scarce.

In Silicon Valley, some believe there is a problem with the lack of diversity.  Mainly white males and Asian males are hired from employers.  Many studies show that companies with gender and ethnic diversity tend to be more creative and more profitable, because varied perspectives help them design products and services that appeal to a diverse, worldwide audience. (New York Times)  Facebook is doing a good job by working with professional associations and other nonprofit organizations to get more minorities and girls to get more involved and interested in science and technology.  More companies should get involved in things like what Facebook is doing to promote science and technology towards women and minorities. Such organizations should be used to a greater degree to foster growth of diversity in the workforce.

A recent study by the University of Colorado found that women and minorities that try and help others like them get jobs end up not doing well themselves at the job they have. (Kathleen Davis) Employers have a tendency to do something called self-replicating while hiring future employees.  Which means they like to hire people that remind them of themselves.  By doing that, it would not only limit the diversity of the company, but limit the type of ideas to put towards progressing the company and improving it.  Confirmation bias should be excluded in the job hiring process because it takes away from the candidates and ultimately limits diversity for the company. That is why it is important to have an honest job hiring process for companies that evaluates their candidates holistically.   

The biggest issue is Employers say they are not qualified or there are people who are more qualified than they are.   On average, just 2% of technology workers at seven Silicon Valley companies that have released staffing numbers are black; 3% are Hispanic. (Elizabeth Weise and Jessica Guynn)  But last year, 4.5% of all new recipients of bachelor's degrees in computer science or computer engineering from prestigious research universities were African American, and 6.5% were Hispanic, according to data from the Computing Research Association.  (Eizabeth Weise and Jessica Guynn)  So statistically the number of Hispanics and African Americans working in the computer science or computer engineering field should be higher than they are.