found that from 2017 to 2019, Black workers made up 9 percent of the STEM workforce and Latino workers represented 8 percent. Both figures were smaller than their share of all employed U.S. adults, 11 percent and 17 percent, respectively. And women made up about 15 percent of engineering jobs, 25 percent of computer science jobs and 40 percent of physical science occupations, compared with their 47 percent share of all employed U.S. adults.
“We have one of the most diverse schools in the county,” Smith said of the Falls Church school. “This is really helping create a diverse workforce development pipeline for the tech companies in Northern Virginia. And if they go on and get advanced degrees and help save the world, that’s good.”their own engineering project ideas like building racing drones and electronic skateboards — or using aquaponics to grow vegetables.
“It's our hope that we're creating a passionate group of engineers who want to do the sort of work that the companies that are in high tech need them to do,” Smith said.“My whole entire family comes from scientists, so I can definitely see myself becoming someone in the STEM field,” Dahlia said. “Even if I don’t do that, or whatever I do, I think this has really taught me a lot about group work.”Out the back door of Smith’s classroom, the farm is situated in a narrow work shed.
In the meantime there’s maintenance to be done. Camryn Swift, 14, dipped a test tube into the fish tank and squeezed a few chemical drops into the tube to test for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, and pH levels. She held the tube up to light, inspecting the color.