For Latino Students, the Fear of Being Left Behind in AI and STEM Jobs
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Latino children make up one of the fastest-growing demographics in K-12 education. Yet few are likely to grow up and establish careers in technology. For them, there’s obviously a leak somewhere in the school-to-jobs pipeline.
Just one in 10 tech workers are Latino, and while Latino college students are choosing STEM fields in college more frequently, they earn only about 12 percent of undergraduate degrees awarded in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Federal data shows that K-12 schools with high percentages of Hispanic students offer fewer STEM courses than schools with lower proportions of Hispanic kids.
Reporter Nadia Tamez-Robledo recently moderated a panel of tech experts at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual conference to talk about why Latinos are still lagging in science education and what it’s going to take to make sure they don’t get left behind — particularly in the fast-growing AI industry. Read the top takeaways below.
Why Is Increasing Latinos in STEM Important?
Diana Logreira is web program manager at the NASA Science Mission Directorate, which studies Earth from space. She said the organization is trying to increase Latino interest in science through initiatives like a partnership with Arizona State University to create K-12 science activities, and the effort is part of their overall mission to drive innovation.
“We need to involve more underrepresented communities in our programs and missions and our research, so what we’ve been doing is trying to figure out how we can plug in our content into those communities,” Logreira said. “For us, innovation is a must, and there is a lot of research that shows that diversity is related and connected to the efficiency of innovation and scientific discovery.”