Survey: CEOs Fear International
Competition for STEM Talent
Industry fails to see potential in under-represented minorities
By Ibram Rogers
PITTSBURGH, Pa.
Chief executive officers of the country’s 100 fastest-growing science and technology companies fear international companies will gain a competitive advantage if they have access to the United States’ best scientists and technical workers, according to a survey released recently.
And yet, the predicted drain on highly skilled workers has not prompted the CEOs to recruit, hire or nurture minorities and women, who remain under-represented in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.
According to the study, commissioned by Bayer Corp., 74 percent of CEOs are “not frustrated” by their company’s inability to hire Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and women. Although 83 percent say STEM companies have a role in ensuring that minorities and women succeed in science and engineering, only one in five have specific recruitment programs targeted at minorities and women.
The pool of women and under-represented minorities in the STEM industry is not being adequately tapped because of a preconceived image of what scientists, mathematicians and engineers should look like, says Dr. Mae Jemison, the nation’s first Black female astronaut and CEO of BioSentient Inc., an emerging medical devices company.
That image: A White male.
“A good proportion [of CEOs] have not yet fully made the connection between the potential STEM manpower shortage issue and the potential, untapped talent pool that exists in those individuals who are still not well represented in these fields,” Jemison says. “They don’t visualize [minorities and women], who make up more than 50 percent of the population, as their potential work force.”
The White male scientist image has also manifested itself negatively among college faculty, Jemison adds, leading to poor treatment and higher drop-out rates for women and under-represented minorities in STEM programs.
