A new federal report finds that women, Black and Hispanic workers are significantly underrepresented in high-tech jobs and that employers have made “limited progress” in creating advancement opportunities for qualified workers of all backgrounds.
The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces federal laws against discrimination, issued its report Wednesday on diversity in the high-tech sector and workforce from 2014-2022 and concluded “significant barriers” remain. The report studied demographic disparities for workers in 56 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) occupations and the industries employing them.
“Sixty years after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there is a high degree of underrepresentation and a disturbing lack of career advancement for female, Black, and Hispanic workers in the high-tech workforce, despite the recent period of growth in high tech occupations,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows.
“America’s high-tech sector, which leads the world in crafting technologies of the future, should not have a workforce that looks like the past,” Burrows said. “These data raise serious questions that deserve serious answers.”
For example, women were 22% of the high-tech workforce in 2005 and still comprised less than a quarter (22.6%) of the high-tech workforce in 2022. This is significantly less than the percentage of women in the total U.S. workforce (47.3%) in 2022.
Black workers represented 7.4% of the high-tech workforce in 2022 even though they were 11.6% of the total U.S. workforce. Hispanic workers were 9.9% of the high-tech workforce in 2022 even though they represent 18.7% of the total U.S. labor force.
Asian employees were the only demographic group to represent a significantly larger share of the high-tech workforce (18.1%) than their share of the total U.S. workforce (6.5%). White employees represented 59.9% of the high-tech workforce, only slightly more than their share of the total U.S. workforce (58.4%).
The magnitude of the disparities among some demographic groups, particularly for women and Black workers, combined with research and the EEOC’s experience enforcing anti-discrimination laws, suggest that discrimination likely contributes to the relatively low employment of women, Black workers, Hispanic workers in high tech, the report said.
Findings from the report include:
- Female, Black, and Hispanic workers remained substantially underrepresented in the high-tech workforce and sector compared to other industries and the overall workforce. Between 2005 and 2022 there was very little change in the representation of Black workers and virtually no change in the representation of female workers in the high-tech workforce.
- Black, Hispanic and Asian workers were underrepresented in managerial positions compared to their participation in the high-tech workforce overall.
- While women are nearly half of the total U.S. workforce, they were just 22.6% of the high-tech workforce in all industries, and only 4% of the high-tech workforce in the high-tech sector.
- The high-tech workforce is generally younger than the total U.S. workforce; 40.8% of the high-tech workforce are ages 25 to 39, but only 33.1% of the overall workforce.
- Workers over age 40 in the high-tech workforce lost ground between 2014 and 2022, declining from 55.9% to 52.1%.
- Charges of discrimination filed with the EEOC in the tech sector were more likely to involve discrimination based on age, pay, and/or genetic information than those filed in other sectors.
Given its findings, the report recommends that high-tech companies proactively examine barriers limiting employment for women, older workers, Black workers, and Hispanic workers. To view the EEOC report, “High Tech, Low Inclusion: Diversity in the High Tech Workforce and Sector from 2014 – 2022,” go here.
