Looking Ahead: Student’s Perceptions of Diversity Before and After A Diversity Workshop

Abstract

The U.S. engineering workforce is not representative of the country’s diverse population. While Blacks and Hispanics account for 13.4% and 18.5% nationwide, they represent only 5% and 7% in the engineering workforce, respectively. The engineering workforce is also underrepresented in gender, with just 14% of engineers identifying as female compared to 50.8% in the general population (US Census Bureau 2019; Funk and Parker 2018). LGBTQ+ populations are also underrepresented in STEM (Cech 2015). The lack of diversity in engineering has been shown to hamper both creativity and productivity (McLeod, Lobel, and Cox 1996; Ely, Padavic, and Thomas 2012; Alesina, Harnoss, and Rapoport 2016; Trenor et al. 2008; Roberge and van Dick 2010).