Students and educators across the United States celebrated National STEM/ STEAM Day on November 8, an official holiday that encourages students to explore and pursue their interests in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.
The holiday was founded in 2015 by MGA Entertainment, the world’s largest private toy company, to show young people that many of their favorite hobbies have roots in one of the five STEAM fields.
Racial and Gender Diversity in STEM
Careers in STEM/STEAM are rapidly growing. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there will be a 10.8% increase in available STEM occupations between 2021 and 2031. Although these professions are in high-demand, there is still a lack of racial and gender diversity within the fields.
A 2021 Pew Research study found that Black and Hispanic workers are underrepresented within the STEM workforce, and make up the lowest percentage of STEM graduates compared to other racial groups. Additionally, the study found that the “share of women is uneven across STEM job types” as women are underrepresented in physical sciences, computing and engineering jobs despite having made gains in the life and physical sciences.
Increasing representation within the STEM workforce will help to foster a culture of inclusivity and ensure that the United States remains globally competitive within the field. According to a study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “a more diverse team is more likely to outperform a more homogenous team”—even when the latter is considered to have “greater ability” than the more diverse group. This is because people from different backgrounds bring unique perspectives to the table that can aid in finding innovative solutions to a problem.
Robert F. Smith’s Work to Increase Diversity in the STEM Workforce
Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners (Vista) Robert F. Smith is an advocate for helping students of color access a STEM education and increasing diversity in the STEM workforce. A graduate of Cornell University, Smith has donated a significant amount of funds to help women and Black students at the university excel as they pursue STEM degrees. In 2016, he contributed $20 million to his alma mater’s College of Engineering and another $10 million to fund a tech fellowship program called Robert Frederick Smith Tech Scholars Program,which supports Black and female students who are pursuing engineering degrees at the school.
Additionally, Smith gifted Cornell another $15 million in 2022 to support undergraduate students from “urban core high schools in major cities” as well as recent HBCU graduates pursuing graduate degrees. “I’m investing $15 million in the students of the College of Engineering to establish three funds here at Cornell that will help ensure diverse and historically underrepresented students get the chance to build their skills and thrive,” said Smith during an award ceremony held at Cornell.
Smith is also working to build a diverse STEM workforce through his support of internXL, a paid internship program that stems from the Fund II Foundation. The Foundation, which Smith is founding director and President of, is an organization dedicated to making grants to charities that improve the lives and opportunities of Americans in Black and Brown communities. The Foundation was created in 2019 to mimic Smith’s own positive experience at Bell Labs when he was a teenager. InternXL matches highly qualified minority students with businesses and STEM-related corporations, including AT&T, Price Waterhouse Coopers and Vista Equity Partners.
Learn more about Smith’s work to build an inclusive STEM workforce.
