Latinas hold only 2% of STEM jobs. These 5 women are working to fix that.

These women are some of the biggest cheerleaders for Latinas in STEM.
By Eva Recinos  on 
Latinas hold only 2% of STEM jobs. These 5 women are working to fix that.
From left to right: Jannie Fernandez , Josie Goytisolo, Cecilia Aragon, Jazlyn L. Carvajal, and Concha Gomez Credit: Mashable Composite

This post is part of Mashable's ongoing series The Women Fixing STEM, which highlights trailblazing women in science, tech, engineering, and math, as well as initiatives and organizations working to close the industries' gender gaps.

Many barriers stand in the way of a Latina interested in a career in STEM. Even if one pushes past discrimination and isolation, there is still the question of resources.

The numbers say it all: Only 2 percent of Latinas held science and engineering positions in 2015, as reported by the National Science Foundation. According to a report from the National Center for Women and Information Technology, Latinas made up only 1 percent of the computing workforce in 2017. Overall, women hold 24 percent of STEM jobs in the U.S.

But Latinas in academia, the workforce, and beyond are working to change the depressing data. Below are just a few of the women leading by example in their respective fields and sharing their stories in order to encourage the next generation of Latinas in STEM.

Cecilia Aragon

Cecilia Aragon is the first Latina full professor, a professor with one of the highest ranks, at the University of Washington College of Engineering in its hundred-year history. She’s also the co-inventor, along with Raimund Seidel, of a highly praised data structure called the “treap.” In 2008, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the National Science and Technology Council. But her journey didn’t come without challenges, chief among them were the stereotypes and assumptions that followed her throughout her academic career, starting from a young age.

"My math teacher always mentored the top math students in his classes in high school for the Math Olympiad except my year when he mentored the second best student who happened to be a white male."

“All the teachers had these assumptions that I was not going to be very good,” says Aragon. “And it just happened over and over again. My math teacher always mentored the top math students in his classes in high school for the Math Olympiad except my year when he mentored the second best student who happened to be a white male. And I had a teacher that told me in middle school: ‘Why are you working so hard at math? You should be getting a boyfriend.’”

While completing her PhD in Computer Science, Aragon felt like she was “not smart enough.” Now, she makes it a point to praise Latinx students’ work when they come to her; she knows their struggle from her own experience.

“Often it only takes one voice,” says Aragon. “You’d be surprised at how many young students come to me and don’t have confidence in themselves. They don’t know that they’re brilliant.”

Concha Gomez

As a University of California Berkeley student in the ‘90s, Concha Gomez experienced her fair share of discrimination. Many students chalked up her presence on campus to affirmative action,

“People would just say to my face: ‘I know why you're here,’” says Gomez.

Now, as a professor of Mathematics at Diablo Valley College in the Bay Area, Gomez shares her story often with Latina students — and she takes that responsibility seriously. Gomez remembers what it was like to often be the only Latina in STEM classes.

“We discuss isolation and how hard it is,” says Gomez. “I talk about how important it is to find friends that have the same interests — that you have other things in common with besides academics. Students of your own race who are also math majors or engineering majors. It’s really, really hard. But it's really, really important.”

In the past, Gomez worked with SACNAS, which is “dedicated to fostering the success of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans” in STEM. She keeps in touch with many Latina students from her previous classes, some of whom now attend grad school. At Diablo Valley College, she is fostering a network of Latinx professors to support Latinx students across disciplines.

Jazyn L. Carvajal

After presenting about her career to a group of high school students, Jazyln L. Carvajal realized she needed to do more to encourage Latinas interested in STEM. So she reached out to fellow Latina MIT alumnae and they agreed: There was work to be done. That planted the seed for Carvajal to co-found Latinas in STEM in 2013.

“We came from communities all over the U.S. and felt there was a need to inspire Latinas to pursue STEM fields and support Latinas to thrive in their careers,” Carvajal writes in an email to Mashable.

The organization focuses on providing Latinas with “the understanding on how to get there and how to succeed once you are there” when it comes to a career in STEM. To do so, it aims to educate parents and support students even after graduation.

“There are so many young women that have the support at home, the math and science ability to succeed, but simply don’t have a blueprint on how to get there,” Carvajal writes.

Part of making that blueprint more accessible means sharing her journey, including the “daily obstacles” Carvajal experiences herself.

Jannie Fernandez

Jannie Fernandez is a program manager for the National Center for Women & Information Technology, which produces workshops, events, and mentoring opportunities for Latinas in middle school and college through its TECHNOLOchicas program. The program is co-produced by the Televisa Foundation.

Through her work, Fernandez hopes to increase diversity in STEM careers. She wants to make an impact on how young girls first get exposed to STEM, emphasizing that much of the curriculum is currently “disconnected from student interests.” Much of the time, this means a lack of access to information and a lack of “relatable role models.”

“It is critical to acknowledge, celebrate, and raise visibility for Latinas in tech whose legacies and real-life stories inspire young women to pursue computing,” Fernandez writes in an email to Mashable.

View this post on Instagram

Part of increasing that visibility means creating more role models for students. Latinas 18 or older “pursuing a career in tech or working in a tech-related field” can serve as a TECHNOLOchicas ambassador and increase outreach efforts through sharing their stories and volunteering at workshops.

The NCWIT estimates that there will be around 3.5 million computing-related jobs in the U.S. by 2026. That means women in STEM need resources and mentorship early on to prepare for these types of jobs. This can be difficult for students without the proper resources, something TECHNOLOchicas wants to change.

“It's really rewarding to know that our work exposes them to opportunities that have a lasting, positive impact on their lives,” writes Fernandez. “These experiences with computing have the potential to change their lives' trajectory and put them on a path to success.”

Josie Goytisolo

In a recent Instagram post, a group of smiling girls hold certificates. These young innovators completed CODeLLA’s Summer Immersion, where they brainstormed ideas for apps and used the MIT App Inventor to bring them to life.

View this post on Instagram

CODeLLA Founder and CEO Josie Goytisolo says many girls don’t have real “opportunities to engage early on in STEM activities.” Most girls want to know how they can create the path to getting a STEM career, she says. Goytisolo knows that technology is only going to keep changing and young Latinas need the proper training to attain their career goals. CODeLLA focuses on Latina and other underrepresented girls ages 8 to 13, teaching them necessarily skills to help guide their careers.

“Most ask about pathways towards careers and help with navigating a disrupted educational system that’s not always easy to understand,” writes Goytisolo in an email. “So they can secure the credentials and certifications needed to start their careers.” Goytisolo also stresses that there’s “a lack of access to mentors in STEM fields” that share a similar background. CODeLLA hopes to change that.

In an academic area that often feels unwelcoming for Latina students, these women are using their own experiences to change the status quo.

With time, hard work, and changes within STEM industries, the number of Latinas in STEM will hopefully increase beyond today’s paltry percentages.

Eva Recinos is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, VICE, Hyperallergic, LA Magazine, Latina, Refinery29 and others. She is less than five feet tall.

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Brittany Levine Beckman

Brittany Levine Beckman was Mashable's managing editor. She enjoys crafting feature ideas, learning new things, and party parrots. Before working at Mashable, she covered community news at the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. That's how she met a zonkey and the tallest man in the world.


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