The technology industry is one of the largest in the world. It’s responsible for new advances that ease the lives of everyday people, but despite the industry’s scale, it continues to lack in one particular area.
According to statistics from job-searching site Zippia, white people made up 64.2% of all computer scientists in 2021. The Asian demographic came in second at 18.8%, followed by Hispanic or Latino at 6.9% and Black at 4.2%. A Gallup report for Google suggests that the disparity in representation is likely be due to social and structural barriers.
“Not only do females, Blacks and Hispanics lack some of the access and exposure to [computer science] that their counterparts have, but the persistence of long-standing social barriers that foster narrow views of who does [computer science] can also halt interest and advancement,” the report reads.
Software engineer Sergio Castanon-Diaz has experienced the lack of diversity in the field first-hand. At BioFire Diagnostics, Castanon-Diaz’s place of work for two and a half years, he said he and another new employee are the only Latinos working in his area.
“I still try to get along with my coworkers even though we are from different backgrounds, but it’s definitely not the same. Recently they hired a new employee [who] is Latino and we clicked instantly,” Cantanon-Diaz said.
Yerry Perez, another software engineer, moved with his family from California to Utah and now works for Fidelity Investments. He said the idea of being proud of where you come from was instilled in him at an early age, but experience has taught him that the color of one’s skin matters for different reasons.
“At my old company, people of color were the ones pushed to roles like IT, technology or operation, but the face of the company was always white,” said Yerry Perez, who is half Guatemalan.
Yerry Perez can only speak to working in the financial sector, since that is where he has worked for the last two years. But his experience is not unlike that of Castanon-Diaz, who also represents the limited diversity managed within his workplace.
Elsewhere, in the education sector, student Brandley Perez had a personal experience that he said cost him many years of study due to advice he received from STEM faculty at the University of Utah.
“When I was at the University of Utah,” Brandley Perez recalled, “an advisor told me: ‘Are you sure you want to pursue an engineering career? It will take you six to nine years to graduate because you don’t have your physics or your chemistry [requirements].’”
“I received a lot of discouragement from different advisors,” continued Brandley Perez, who now works full-time at Salt Lake Community College as a desktop support technician. He is also studying at the college part-time.
However, there are signs that things may be changing for the better in the Beehive State with regard to higher education.
SLCC currently classifies itself as an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution, which reflects the school’s growing Hispanic/Latino student population as well as its growing diversity more generally.
Bonnie Ogden, a student success manager for SLCC’s STEM Learning, said her goal is to help everyone under her wing find success and have a smooth transfer to the university they desire. “It seems like [students] enjoy the guidance and also the stories I can share from other students’ experiences,” Ogden said.
Similarly, Aimee Birdsall, assistant professor of engineering at SLCC, said she tries to be as engaging as possible and promote the number of women studying and entering STEM. She also tries to ensure that her teachings can be applied to students’ day-to-day lives.
“I try to help students outside of class, making them join clubs. Or when they have questions, [I encourage them] to go to my office so we can solve those problems,” said Birdsall, who also serves as an advisor for the Society of Women Engineers.
Birdsall added that a diverse selection of students populate STEM classrooms at SLCC, a point she said further fosters support between peers during class time.
