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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2016)
News Page 4 Street Roots • Jan. 8-14, 2016 P H O T O CO U R TES Y O F GIRLS IN C . O F THE PACIFIC N O R T H W E S T Inside the control room o f K 0 IN 6 news, Girls Inc. o f the Pacific Northwest students learn the technical details behind the nightly news. It girt walks into a science class... Local programs inspire K 12 girls to pursue careers in S T E M fields, where women are lacking in numbers BY E M IL Y GREEN S T A FF W R IT E R veryone knows: Girls struggle with math and science, right? Google “kids science kits.” Most of the products you’ll see are clearly marketed toward boys, and those that aren’t - the predominantly pink, so-called science kits produced for girls - display words like “Perfumery” and “Spa’mazing” on their packaging. '■ 5% Venture-backed startup ' Tj From an early age, founders who are female with antiquated gender stereotypes, a <20% Female students who took the lack of female Advanced Placement test for mentors in STEM computer science in 2013 leadership roles, and other direct and 26% Computing jobs in the U.S. indirect messaging, . held by women many girls shy away 5% Girls who consider a from considering a STEM career career in science, technology, 20% Boys who consider a engineering and STEM career math, or STEM. But studies have 73% People whoBfeve the tech repeatedly shown • industry is sexist girls are just as apt to SOURCES: P O R TLA N D D E V E LO P M E N T C O M M IS S IO N , excel at math and O R E G O N E M P L O Y M E N T D E P A R TM E N T, T H E G U A R D IA N , N E X T G EN E R A TIO N R E C R U ITM E N T science as boys, and with continuing growth in the STEM- related job markets on Portland’s horizon, local economists and tech industry leaders say it’s time to let them know. Tech is one of the fastest-growing and BY THE NUMBERS most lucrative industries in the metro area, and right now, white men disproportionately occupy the jobs within it. During the first quarter of 2015, men filled nearly 70 percent of all tech positions in the Portland and Vancouver metro region, and while whites make up about 75 percent of the regional population, they occupied 84 percent of tech jobs, according to data compiled by the Portland Development Commission. In 2014, about 1 in 4 job openings in the Portland region were STEM and health care occupations, said Amy Vander Vliet, a regional economist with Oregon Employment Department. “Looking forward, the tri-county region is expected to create nearly 12,000 new STEM jobs by 2022, or about one out of every 12 new jobs,” she said, adding that between job growth and vacancies, there will, be about 26,000 STEM job openings - not including the health industry. But STEM jobs remain unfilled longer than jobs in other fields, indicating the skills are in high demand relative to the supply, and the supply of qualified women and minorities is even smaller. At Intel, only 25 percent of staff is female, and far fewer are minorities. This prompted the company to pledge $300 million in early 2015 to diversifying its workforce over the next five years. While many national and local tech companies announced plans to diversify the audience what her robot does. The paper on the right shows a honeycomb pattern that was programmed into it. their workforces by recruiting more women and minorities, some experts say they’re overlooking the root cause. See GIRLS INC., page 5
