[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 169 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 169
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need
for increased diversity and inclusion in the tech sector, and increased
access to opportunity in science, technology, engineering, arts, and
mathematics (STEAM) education.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 4, 2019
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Butterfield, Ms. Judy Chu of
California, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Castro of
Texas, and Ms. Bass) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need
for increased diversity and inclusion in the tech sector, and increased
access to opportunity in science, technology, engineering, arts, and
mathematics (STEAM) education.
Whereas there will be 1,400,000 new tech jobs by 2020, however, 70 percent of
those jobs will be unfulfilled at the rate United States universities
are currently producing qualified graduates;
Whereas communities of color (African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans,
Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders) are woefully underrepresented in
corporate leadership roles, including the technology sector;
Whereas African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders are
disproportionately underrepresented in the technology sector;
Whereas Black and Hispanic workers in the science and engineering workforce
continue to be underrepresented, Black employees represent 11 percent of
the United States workforce but only 9 percent of the science and
engineering workforce, and Hispanic employees represent 16 percent of
the United States workforce but only 7 percent of the science and
engineering workforce;
Whereas the share of women working in science and engineering jobs has held
steady around 50 percent since 1990, but the share of women in specific
fields has varied from 47 percent in life sciences to only 25 percent in
computer science;
Whereas women of color represent less than 10 percent of all computer science
professionals (African American: 5.7 percent; Hispanic: 6.4 percent;
American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.1 percent; and Asian: 22.9 percent);
Whereas 50 to 70 percent of employees in tech companies work in non-tech
positions, for which an existing pipeline of qualified African Americans
and Latinos currently exists;
Whereas a pipeline of qualified technical candidates is critical as the tech
industry improves its recruiting, hiring, and retaining of candidates
and employees of color;
Whereas underrepresented minority students overall face an opportunity gap in
STEAM education;
Whereas women of color particularly face an achievement gap in science and
engineering education;
Whereas, in 2015, women were conferred nearly a third of all science and
engineering degrees;
Whereas, in 2015, women of color received only 13 percent of all science and
engineering degrees (Black: 3.2 percent; Hispanic: 3.9 percent; Native
American or Alaskan Native: 0.2 percent; Asian or Pacific Islander: 4.5
percent; and multi-racial: 1.2 percent);
Whereas women overall face a large opportunity gap in computer science;
Whereas only 18 of all bachelor's degrees conferred in computer science went to
women in 2015;
Whereas, in 2015, women of color received only 9 percent of degrees conferred in
computer science (Black: 3 percent; Hispanic: 2 percent; Native American
or Alaska Native: 0.8 percent; and Asian or Pacific Islander: 3
percent);
Whereas the opportunity and achievement gap between boys and girls starts early;
Whereas, in 2017, 22 percent of high schools offered the Advanced Placement (AP)
Computer Science course, and only 35 percent of high schools teach
computer science;
Whereas, in 2018, 28 percent of AP Computer Science test takers were girls, and
21 percent were African American or Latino; and
Whereas there is a dearth of disaggregated data to show academic attainment
across different Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports efforts to--
(1) increase diversity and inclusion in the technology
sector, including robust plans to ensure recruitment, training,
and retention of underrepresented minorities at all levels,
from the boardroom to the senior executive level, to rank and
file employees, as well as vendors;
(2) eliminate barriers faced by people of color, and other
underrepresented groups when breaking into the technology
sector;
(3) ensure all students have access to science, technology,
engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education for a 21st
century economy, including computer science education in
particular;
(4) strengthen investments in, and collaborations with
educational institutions including community colleges,
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving
institutions, Asian-American, Native American, and Pacific
Islander-serving institutions, American Indian Tribally
controlled colleges and universities, Alaska Native and Native
Hawaiian-serving institutions, predominantly Black
institutions, Native American-serving, non-Tribal institutions,
and other minority-serving institutions to sustain a pipeline
of diverse STEAM graduates ready to enter the technology
sector; and
(5) improve data collection, disaggregation, and
dissemination of information for greater understanding and
transparency of diversity in STEAM education and across the
workforce.
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