BY THE NUMBERS
by Terrence Dove & Lango Deen editors@ccgmag.com
The State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2020 T
he State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2020, a recent report by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Science Board (NSB), shows the most recent quantitative data regarding the U.S. science and engineering (S&E) sector. S&E employment in the United States—made up of occupations like software developers, computer system analysts, chemists, mathematicians, economists, and engineers—has grown more rapidly than the workforce overall and now represents 5 percent (about 7 million) of all U.S. jobs. Highlights show the number of women grew in all S&E occupations. Women account for about half (52 percent) of the college-educated workforce, and between 2003 and 2017, the number of women in S&E jobs rose from nearly 1.3 million to nearly 2 million. Despite this increase, women in 2017 accounted for 29 percent of S&E employment, compared with 26 percent in 2003. The skilled technical workforce is made up primarily of men—only 28 percent are women. According to the latest data from the NCSES’ Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering report, more men than women were employed full time in 2017 (12.8 million men versus 10.1 million women) and about twice as many women were employed part time (2.9 million women versus 1.5 million men). Almost 70 percent of scientists and engineers employed full time are white.
Demographic characteristics of Employed Scientists and Engineers by Sex in 2017
Source: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics | Demographic characteristics of employed scientists and engineers, by sex: 2017
.2% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander female .3% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander male
73% White male
.3% American Indian or Alaska Native (male and female combined) 1.5% More than one race male 2.1% More than one race female 5.9% Black or African-American male 7.7% Hispanic or Latino male
67% White female
9% Black or African-American female 9.5% Hispanic or Latino female 11.9% Asian female 14% Asian male
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WOMENOFCOLOR | SPRING 2020
www.womenofcolor.online
